


Shouldn't, the Sequel

by Nevermore_red



Series: Shouldn't [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Sequel, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-24
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-17 00:56:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4646376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevermore_red/pseuds/Nevermore_red
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sequel to the two shot Should and Shouldn't.</p><p>'That night, when he dreamed of fire, it was the flames of her red hair that trailed along his skin and face, the smell of charred flesh turning into the scent of lemons and sex, and the burn was the sweetest thing he'd ever felt.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Lets open with a little (or maybe not so little?) smut since we didn't get any in the prequel!
> 
> Enjoy :)

Sandor sat back in his recliner, silky thighs braced along his hips, lemon scented hair the color of fire clung to his beard stubble, and hot breath brushed along his mouth in short, rapid pants. His body was hot and primed, hard and ready for her but he was enjoying the feel of her naked body pressed against his while his mouth devoured her soft whimpers of pleasure and want and his hands explored the soft curves and hills of her body, so he was in no hurry, or immediate hurry anyway, to thrust inside her.

"Sandor." she gasped his name, her head falling back on her shoulders, her hair tickling his thighs under her arse when his fingers pinched and twisted her hardened nipples.

They'd been at this now for a week, spending every night or evening together. He hadn't gone one day without being inside her since he brought her to his place that first night, but it still blew his mind every time she was with him. Still made him ache with need and burst with pride every time his name fell from her lips as she lost herself to the pleasure he brought her.

Her fingers threaded into his hair as she pulled away from him slightly so she could breath properly, Tully blue eyes locking onto his. He let his hands drift down her sides to hold her hips, guiding her as she ground against him, his already hard cock sliding through her folds.

"Please, Sandor." He loved her like this, nearly lost in her desire for more, begging him for it. But he didn't feel like teasing her. He was more then ready. Letting go of one hip, he nudged her back a little so he could grasp himself, pulling it up and off his abdomen. Holding himself up, he looked back at her and found her looking down at his hand, her pale cheeks nearly glowing with her arousal.

"Come on, Sansa." he pulled upwards on her hip. She rose up on her knees and her small hand wrapped around his and together they guided him to where he needed to be. It never lost it's intensity, or that gut wrenching feeling of being somewhere he didn't belong but not wanting to be anywhere else as her body stretched and opened up, accommodating his size and length into her.

Pulling her tightly to his pelvis, he held her there, letting his eyes roll closed as his entire body tightened with the effort to hold still until her body adjusted. It hadn't taken him long to find out she was a tighter fit then anyone else he'd ever been with, or that his size was something she needed a bit of coaxing to take. Just as a sweat was starting to break out along his temples, her body relaxed and her nails retracted from his biceps.

"That's it." he breathed out as he opened his eyes so he could watch her. Watching Sansa in the throes of ecstasy, as she sought out her pleasure while trying so damn hard to please him, was almost as enjoyable as the sex itself.

Almost.

It never failed to infuriate him, though, that she was perpetually worried that she was somehow failing him when it came to sex. He knew that was somehow tied to Joffrey, the little cunt. But, damn it, she was quite possibly the best lay he'd ever had.

And that was bullshit. She most definitely was.

Bracing his feet on the floor and gripping the armrests until his knuckles turned white, he let her set the pace, let her move on her own and find out what felt good for her. She braced her hands on his chest, back arching slightly while she moved slowly and hesitantly at first.

"Do you know how fucking sexy you are right now?" Another thing he'd come to find out was that she liked his voice for some bloody fucking reason. She liked when he spoke to her during sex. Who knew someone could be turned on by his voice, raspy and rough as it was since his throat had been damaged in the fire? Probably the same people who knew someone wouldn't be repulsed by his face. Whoever the fuck they were. She whimpered and bit her bottom lip, a nearly undetectable tremor running up her spine. He might not have noticed it if he hadn't been buried so deeply inside her. Hands sliding up to his shoulders, she leaned forward slightly and started moving faster, dropping her body harder.

"Yeah, that's it, little bird." he ground his teeth together. "Find what feels good. Take what you need."

"I cant." she moaned, grinding down onto him. Her eyes fluttered open and were nearly wild with her passion. "I cant, Sandor, I need..." she gasped as she dropped her weight again. "I need..."

"What?" he growled, clutching harder at the chair. "What do you need, Sansa?"

"You." she nearly sobbed. "You. Gods, Sandor, I need you to help me." He released the chairs arms and wrapped his around her tightly before shooting up to his feet, keeping himself inside her. The chair moved too damn much for what he was going to do. Carrying her to the bed, he dropped onto his back and pushed back until their bodies were fully on the mattress.

"Come here." her pulled her mouth down to his so he could kiss her. Putting a hand between her shoulder blades, he kept her chest pressed to his and wrapped his other arm around her hips so he could hold her still while he thrust up into her. Bending his knees, he braced his feet on the mattress and changed his angle, causing her head to jerk back as a cry escaped her.

"Fuck, Sansa, you're so gods damn tight." He gripped her tighter so his heavy thrusts didn't shove her off him. All too soon he felt her body start to tremble, the rhythmic ripples along his length telling him she was about to loose it.

"Yes, _fuck_. Go, baby." he squeezed his eyes shut, shoving his head backwards as her mouth bit down where his shoulder and neck met. And it wasn't gently. "Go. Come, little bird, come!" And she did with a silent scream ending in his name being whispered. He didnt let up on his thrusts, if anything he went harder and faster feeling his own release building at the base of his spine. Just a few more hard thrusts and he was coming, a noise that wasnt really all that human ripping from his throat.

 

After they'd both cleaned up and lay back down, his naked body spooned up behind her own, he let his fingers lazily roam the flat of her belly listening to her hum softly. He glanced up over her head at the alarm clock on his dresser. It was just after midnight. Fighting a groan, he buried his nose in her neck and absorbed the smell and feel of her.

She'd leave soon. She always did. Not since that first night a week ago had she stayed all night in his bed. He understood, of course. Every day since then, he'd have to get up early to be to work and she to school. And they hadn't told her family yet. Not that Sandor was in any real hurry to do so. They'd agreed that this was all too new and neither of them knew for sure where it was heading so they wanted to give it time and feel it out before saying anything. Or, at least, that's what Sansa said. Sandor agreed because it was true. He had no idea what this was.

Were they just fucking? No, he didn't think so. Or, at least, it didn't feel like all his other just fucking relationships. Like this, for example. He'd never once cuddled with a woman after sex, just enjoying holding her. He was always quick to leave his partners bed shortly after release, and he never brought women to his place. No, that was too complicated. Always going to their place meant he could leave whenever he wanted without the awkwardness of asking them to leave. But he wasn't going to ask Sansa to leave. She would though and that was okay by him even if it stung a little each time she did. The sex was great, fucking phenomenal actually, and that he could handle. What made him uneasy as hell and left him a little on the shaky side was the afterwards. It was new and...intimate. He didn't do intimate well. Didn't know how to handle it.

"You're hands are scarred." she said after a while, her small hand covering his own on her belly, her fingers tracing over the scars on the back of it.

"Aye."

"What are they from?" she asked softly, like her question might make him mad.

"Humvee crash. My hands went through the window." She seemed to relax a little when she realized he wasnt upset. Her hand trailed up his forearm.

"Is that where this scar came from too?" she touched the scar that ran from the bend of his elbow around to his actual elbow.

"No. That was from one of the many incidents saving Joffrey's arse." Her body turned in his arms so she faced him, fingers touching just under his collar bone.

"This?"

"Knife from a mercenary outside Abu Dhabi."

"Gods, Sandor." she looked up at him with a sad look in her eyes. "You've been through so much."

"I survived, little bird." he didn't know what else to say so he ran a thumb along his jawbone. His body was a map of scars, like some written testament to the harsh life he'd lived.

"What..." she hesitated, then trailed her fingers along his ruined cheek and he tensed, knowing what was coming. "What happened?"

"I was burnt." he snapped, hoping without much hope she would let it go.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." she said softly, her forefinger tracing where his eyebrow used to be.

"It's not a pretty story." he assured her, letting his eyes close at her touch.

"Humvee crashes, mercenary attacks, and Joffrey aren't pretty stories either." she pointed out. Fair point, but this one was the worst of them.

"It happened a long time ago when I was just a boy." he finally said without opening his eyes. "My father says I was sleeping at night and that my bedside lamp must have had a shortage. He said the cord sparked and set my bedding on fire."

"So you don't remember it?" She asked sweetly, her fingers still touching him.

"No, I remember it." he growled. "Just not how he liked to tell it." Her fingers paused in their movement.

"What do you mean?"

"That wasn't what happened." he snapped, his eyes opening. He was pissed that she was making him talk about it even though in the back of his mind he knew she had told him he didn't have to. For some bloody fucking reason, though, he kept talking.

"I was six or maybe seven..." he actually knew for a damn fact that he was seven. He remembered everything about that day in excruciating detail. "It was the day after Christmas and we were in the living room going through all of our new things. We were piss poor so we never got much, but that year Gregor had gotten a wooden knight. He fucking hated it. Threw a damn fit because of it and refused to pick the damn thing up. He got up and went to his room so I went over near the fire where he'd left it and picked it up. I wasn't going to bloody take it, just wanted to play with the damn thing. He came back in while I was and without saying a fucking word grabbed me by the back of my neck and shoved my head in the flames." Sansa's horrified gasp broke his thrall, bringing him out of the past and back to the present. He'd actually forgotten he was speaking or that she was there. He met her eyes that shimmered with tears and felt his chest seize.

"My father managed to pull him off me but the damage was done. Like I said, we were poor so nothing happened in the way of cosmetic restoration. They only worked to save what was left of my ear and skin grafted over a part of my jawbone that was showing. My vocal cords were burnt and damaged by the smoke but I was lucky that I kept my eyes shut so it wasn't burnt."

"Why did your father say it was a accident?" she whispered.

"Because he was fucking terrified of Gregor. Everyone was."

"Where is he now, your brother?" her voice trembled and Sandor realized she was scared for him.

"In prison." he leaned forward to rub his chin along her hairline.

"For this?" she asked, kissing his burnt cheek lightly.

"No. About ten years back he and a friend of his broke into a wealthy lady's house. His friend killed her toddler daughter while Gregor killed her son in front of her, then raped and murdered her. Took about three years, but the FBI finally found him." Sansa let out a soft sob, then wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tightly. He'd half expected her to run screaming from his bed.

"Don't cry for him, girl." he growled when he felt her tears on his chest.

"It's not for him." she said into his chest. "It's for that family he ruined and for the little boy he hurt."

"He didn't just hurt the boy, he killed him." Her face lifted from his chest and she looked up at him.

"Not him, Sandor." she whispered, leaning up to kiss his chin. "You. The little boy you were."

"I don't want your tears, either." he snapped, grabbing her wrist to stop her from touching his face again.

"No." she shook her head. "I wont cry for the man you are now. You're harsh and a bit of a brute, but your also strong and kind with a bigger sense of honor then any man I've ever met. But I will cry for that little boy. The one who just wanted to play with a toy knight. You cant tell me I cant." with that, she buried her face back into his chest and cried and he let her. She was right, he couldn't stop her. Didn't want to. Hell, Sandor grieved that little boy as well, almost like he was an entirely different person.

"Tomorrow is Sunday." she whispered after she'd cried herself out.

"Aye, that it is." he agreed, rubbing his palm up and down her spine.

"You don't have to work, do you?" she asked hesitantly.

"No." he tightened his arms around her even as she lifted her face to his again.

"Would you mind, that is, I don't have anything to do in the morning and I..." he leaned forward and pressed his mouth to hers, stopping her nervous rambling. Reaching past her, he clicked off the floor lamp and pulled the blankets up around them.

"Go to sleep, little bird." He could almost feel her smile against his shoulder as she snuggled in close to him.

That night, when he dreamed of fire, it was the flames of her red hair that trailed along his skin and face, the smell of charred flesh turning into the scent of lemons and sex, and the burn was the sweetest thing he'd ever felt.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sansa Minisa Stark!" Sansa jumped, dropping her keys onto the foyer tile. Turning around, she found Arya glaring at her from where she stood behind the sofa.

"Morning, Arya." Sansa recovered herself, trying not to blush too hard.

"It's after eleven, Sansa." Arya informed her. "How's that walk of shame going?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sansa picked up her keys and placed them into the bowl and skirted around her sister to go into the kitchen.

"Oh, bullshit." Arya followed her. "You left yesterday evening and haven't been back home unitl just now, still wearing the same clothes you had on yesterday." Sansa avoided her sisters eyes as she poured a cup of coffee from the pot. From the corner of her eye she watched as Arya came to stand close to her side.

"Gods, Sansa!" she suddenly gasped, slapping her shoulder.

"Ouch, Arya!" Sansa rubbed her arm, glaring at her sister. "What was that for?"

"You smell like him!" She supposed she did. After all, she had slept the entire night in his bed, wrapped up in his body.

"Like you have any room to be scolding me, Arya Lyanna!" Sansa turned on her sister, pointing a well manicured nail into her chest. "The smell of gun oil is pouring off of you. Not to mention that hickey on your neck." Sansa flicked said hickey. "And don't even get me started on the fact that I know those gym shorts you're wearing right now are Gendry's." Turning back around, Sansa finished doctoring her coffee the way she liked, with lots of cream and sugar.

"Gendry and I aren't sneaking around." Arya shot back, but most of the heat was out of her tone now.

"I'm not sneaking around." Sansa picked up her mug and walked around Arya to sit in the living room, clicking the TV on and changing the channels without noting what was on.

"Then dad knows your sleeping with the Hound?" Arya dropped onto the other end of the sofa, facing Sansa.

"No." Sansa said without looking away from the TV.

"That means you're sneaking around, San."

"Does dad know you've been sleeping with the new Stag?" Sansa shot back, glaring over at Arya. "Or that Robb has been sleeping with that nurse, Jeyne? Or maybe that Jon has been tupping with that new redheaded mailroom girl?" Interest lost in the TV, Sansa stood up from the sofa. "I'm an adult, Arya. Just like you and both the boys. Who I sleep with is none of daddy's buisness." Turning on her heel, she stomped over to the stairs.

"That's just it, Sansa." Arya called after her. "Sandor works for dad. He's his personal body guard. That means it actually _is_ his business." Sansa ignored her, continuing up the stairs. She showered and changed into some casual clothes. They were expected at their parents house this evening for a family dinner, like most every Sunday. For today, she would put Sandor Clegane and her fluttering heart out of her mind. Once she was finished, she headed back downstairs to find Arya already ready.

"Look, Arya, I don't want to fight. But, I thought you said you were okay with this. I thought you said you liked it."

"I thought you meant a one night stand." Sansa had thought so as well, but once that one night was over, she wanted so much more. With a sigh, she sat down in the chair next to the sofa. Arya was watching some boxing match on TV. After a moment, Arya muted the TV and turned to face her.

"I don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to be blunt." Arya nodded, more to herself then Sansa. "He is not a man to offer you a happily ever after. When I said I liked it, I meant I liked the fact that you were willing to loosen up and have some fun. Shake things up a bit, be a little wild and have some dirty sex with an off limits man. And that's just it, Sansa. Sandor is an off limits man. But now you're spending every evening with him. How long do you think it's going to last?" Sansa swallowed and looked away from her sister, fighting against the lump in her throat.

"I don't know." she said, then looked back at Arya. "Who says he's off limits? I want him and he wants me."

"I'm just afraid you're confusing his physical want, his lust, for you with your emotional feelings for him. He's not the forever type of guy and you're getting serious about him. I can see it when you think about him or see him."

"What are you getting at?" Sansa ignored the churning in her belly.

"I don't want to see you hurt. And I think he'll hurt you."

"No." Sansa stood up and shook her head vehemently. "No, you're wrong. You don't know him like I do. He wont hurt me."

"Not physically, no. He's not like Joffrey." Arya stood as well. "But do you honestly think that a man like him is capable of love? Do you think someone who's lived the life he has is capable of receiving love? I don't want to see your heart break. I think that would be harder to watch then anything Joffrey was able to do. And I think Sandor Clegane will break your heart."

 

For the rest of the evening, Sansa tried to forget what Arya had said. Besides, she was wrong. Sansa knew the type of man Sandor was and had always known he would have limitations. She wouldn't give him her heart, therefor he wouldn't be able to break it. She was so distracted in her insistence to not think about heart break or certain body guards with wickedly talented mouths that she didn't realize there was a tense silence at the dinner table. Looking up from her plate, she glanced around. Her father sat at the head of the table, her mother at his right, Robb at his left. Sansa sat next to her mother, across from Jon, with Arya next to her. Bran sat next to Jon with Rickon sitting opposite him. Everyone, even rambunctious Rickon, sat in stony silence. So unlike the normally rowdy and loud atmosphere during her family dinners. Now that she noticed, she couldn't help but keep looking around, waiting for someone to say something.

It was then she realized her father looked tired. Beyond tired, actually, and both Robb and Jon seemed to be silently fuming. Next to her, her mother hadn't eaten a thing, and continued to shuffle her food around with her fork. Bran was the only one that met her gaze, and inside his far too old eyes, she could see the worry and sympathy. Something was wrong, and it had to do with her. The only others that seemed unaware of what was going on were Arya and Rickon. She cast Arya a raised brow look and her sister just shrugged, obviously unaware of what was causing the awkwardness.

"What's going on?" Sansa finally asked, sitting her fork down and folding her hands in her lap. It was an open question, but she looked at her father. His wise grey eyes lifted to hers and he sighed.

"After dinner, darling." he looked away, back to his plate. Looking over at Robb, she seen her was glaring at nothing, his arms crossed over his chest not even bothering with the pretense of eating. Do they know of Sandor? She wondered. Surely not. And even if they did, they could all just deal with it. She refused to be embarrassed or ashamed over something that made her so incredibly happy.

"I think now is a good time, daddy." Sansa gently persisted.

"Sansa, you've hardly eaten a thing." her mother pointed out.

"And neither have you." Sansa countered. "You're too busy stewing over something. And it's obvious that Robb and Jon are angered at something. And I've only ever seen daddy so stressed and worried looking one other time." and that was the night Sandor had brought her home after Joffrey's final attack. She looked to her father again.

"Tell me what's going on." she said firmly. "Now." Ned Stark laid his fork down and leaned back in his chair, his grey eyes watching her closely and when he spoke he kept his voice calm and even.

"My lawyer, Mr. Casten, informed me today that Joffrey was granted parole." Sansa's mouth fell open at the same time her blood ran cold. She had not been expecting that.

"But...but he hasn't even been in the minimum amount of his sentence." her voice was calmer then she'd imagined.

"I realize that." Ned kept his gaze steady. "But as you know the Lannister's have a lot of money. And with that money comes power. The only thing that it would have taken was the right amount of money placed in the right persons hands."

"Surely he wont come back here." Sansa tried to assure herself. "He's not even a Baratheon anymore. It was proven that he isn't Robert's son."

"He goes by Lannister now, as does his mother. Casten tells me he is being placed under house arrest and is to live with his grandfather." Sansa's heart sank. Tywin Lannister moved to the city the same year that Joffrey and Cersei went to prison. "He wont be permitted to leave the estate." Sansa nodded, but his words didn't make her feel any safer. The Lannister's were known to make their own rules, regardless of what the law said.

"And what of Cersei?"

"She's been denied parole for now." Well, at least that was something. "Sansa, there are things we need to discuss with you now, about safety measures."

"What safety measures?" Ned glanced at Robb quickly before looking back to Sansa.

"I don't think it's safe for you to be going to college for now." Sansa stood up so abruptly her chair fell over.

"You've got to be joking me." she snapped. "I will not drop out. The year is almost up."

"Be reasonable, San." Robb interjected and Sansa glared at him.

"Reasonable?" she said through clenched teeth. "How is putting my education on hold reasonable? I already missed a whole semester because of him after the attack. I refuse to miss anymore."

"It isn't safe." Robb seethed. "Anything could happen to you while you are there and unprotected."

"And anything could happen to you while you're walking about as the Stark heir, but you didn't drop out of college and you don't walk around with a personal body guard hovering around you."

"I was never beaten and nearly raped by a mad man!" Robb jerked out of his chair as well, leaning onto his fists braced on the table. Sansa stepped back at his words, her eyes filling with tears. Her brothers face fell and he dropped his head with a sigh.

"Get your shit together, Robb." Arya spoke for the first time, standing up to hold Sansa's hand. It was an unexpected gesture and Sansa squeezed her sisters fingers. "Don't you think dropping out is a bit rash?" now Arya looked at their dad.

"I don't know how else to keep her safe."

"Keep her safe how you kept Robb and Jon safe, how you're keeping Rickon safe." Arya let go of Sansa's hand mimicked the pose that Robb had been holding just a moment ago. "Teach her to protect herself. Give her a weapon and the proper training on how to use it. Give her the skills she needs to save herself instead of just hoping someone is around to do the saving." Sansa watched as her fathers proud shoulders slumped a bit, guilt glimmering in his grey eyes. Sansa knew that some of Arya's rage was because those were things she'd wanted from her father all along, but he'd refused her so Arya had to sneak around, bribing their brothers and a few of the guards to teach her the things she wanted to know.

"Alright." Ned finally said.

"Ned!" Catelyn gasped. "You can not be serious. She's a lady."

"A lady can know how to protect herself." Arya interjected. "A lady _should_ know how to protect herself."

"Self defense courses and weapons training." Ned nodded, ignoring his steaming wife. "Spring break is coming up. You'll train here during that time, with Clegane." Sansa's belly flipped at the sound of his name. Her father didn't miss a beat. "Until then, there will be a guard with you on campus."

"Daddy!" He held up his hand, stopping her argument.

"Stop, Sansa." he said firmly. "A guard will be with you at all times. But I'll make sure it's discreet. He'll be there at all times, but no one will know. Not even you. He'll keep a distance, but a watchful eye. This, I must insist, is non negotiable." Sansa took a deep breath and righted her chair.

"Alright, as long as it's discreet." To be honest, it made her feel better knowing she would have someone with her at school. Joffrey was insane.

"Now." Ned looked even more uncomfortable. "About your living arrangements."

"Dad!" Both she and Arya shouted at the same time.

"Sansa, the condo isn't secure. I want both you girls to move back in for the time being."

"No." Sansa said firmly.

"Hell no." Arya agreed. For once, they were fighting on the same side.

"Daddy, we're both adults. Grown women. We're not moving back home. And that, sir, is non negotiable." Sansa said.

"Totally non negotiable." Arya added.

"Girls, please." Ned pinched the bridge of his nose. "What if Joffrey were to break into the condo at night?"

"Then I'd kick his scrawny little ass." Arya growled.

"We're not stupid, dad." Sansa pushed in before Arya's anger lost them a fighting chance. "All the windows and doors are locked at all times and the security system, the one you insisted upon and researched for months, is armed all the time. That condo is basically a small fortress, as you insisted when we moved out."

"If it would make you feel better," Arya spoke through clenched teeth, obviously trying to abed her anger. "I'll bring Nymeria to the condo and she can stay there with us."

"There isn't a big enough yard for a dog Nymeria's size at your condo." This from Rickon, the first time he'd spoke all evening. At twelve years old, his life basically revolved around his own wolf hybrid Shaggy. When the girls moved into the condo, Arya had to leave hers behind because of the lack of yardage. Sansa's poor Lady had died shortly before they moved to the big city.

"She'll stay here during the day." Arya reassured him. "We'll only bring her to our house at night. To be our guard."

"They have a point, dad." Jon spoke for the first time. "Besides, I really don't think the Lannister's are stupid enough to attack Sansa at her own home."

"If the Lannister's wanted to attack me or hurt me, they would have done it before Joffrey was released."

"Do you not remember the formal?" Robb asked and Sansa gaped at him.

"You cant honestly be saying that had anything to do with me." she gasped.

"Maybe not you specifically, but the family in general."

"Enough of that, son." Her father cut in, then turned to the girls. "Alright, I'll allow you to stay at your own place as long as you promise to keep everything on lock down and if there is one night that goes by that you forget to come get the dog, the deal is over and you'll both be moving back in with us."

"We promise." Sansa said at the same time Arya said, "Deal."

"Good. And no staying at the house by yourselves. If Arya is spending the night with a friend then Sansa needs to be here." Sansa and Arya shared a conspiratorial glance. Oh, if Arya was spending the night elsewhere, so would Sansa, just not with her parents.

And at the thought of Sandor all she wanted to do was rush to his place and tell him what was happening. He'd make it better, she just knew. She felt wholly safe in his presence.

"If that's all," Sansa stood up. "I think I'll be heading home. This is all giving me a headache and I want to go to bed."

"Of course, darling." Catelyn stood and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry about all this. But we'll get it taken care of." Sansa nodded, not knowing how they could take care of it. Since they drove together to their parents house, she and Arya drove back home together as well, neither speaking, their minds and thoughts elsewhere.

Poor Nymeria, the huge dog, was all balled up in the tiny backseat.

When they got home, Sansa went to her bedroom to change out of her jeans and into comfy clothes. Once she was finished, she sat down on the edge of her bed and sent Sandor a text.

_Are you busy tonight?_

"Are you scared?" Arya's voice at the door had Sansa looking up. Sansa felt her chin wobble a little.

"Nothing else in this world scares me more then Joffrey." she whispered, not trusting her voice to speak any louder.

"He's not the monster you've built up in your nightmares." Arya said softly, coming to sit next to her on the bed. "He's just a man. Flesh and blood like the rest of us. He's not invincible. With the right training, you can take care of him all by yourself." Sansa reached over and grabbed her sisters hand, giving it a squeeze as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Thank you, for standing up for me back there. And thank you for being here now." she lifted their hands. "It makes me feel so much better knowing I'm not doing this alone."

"Of course not, San." Arya bumped her shoulder with hers. "You're my sister and I've got your back. Always. We're Starks, remember. The lone wolf dies but the pack survives." Sansa giggled at her fathers words coming from Arya at the same time her phone vibrated in her lap. Picking it up she saw the text that Sandor had sent.

_Just leaving the range. What's up?_

"Is that Sandor?" Arya asked.

"It is."

"Are you going to go stay with him tonight?"

"I don't know. I don't normally sleep over."

"Well, if you are then I'm going to go to Gendry's. If you want, or he wants, he can come stay with you here. But I can always stay home if you want. I do agree with dad on that. I don't want you here alone." Sansa fought the urge to snap that she was an adult, and older then Arya, but she bit her tongue and text Sandor back.

_Want to stay at my place tonight?_

It seemed like forever when he finally text her back.

_What if your dad sees my bike? Or the she-wolf?_

Sansa hesitated before texting him back. She didn't know if he was really worried about that or just looking for a way to decline her. Since they'd started all this, they'd never been at her place together. It was always his place.

_Arya knows everything. And I have a garage your bike can stay in. If you don't want to, that's fine._

This time, his response was quick.

_You really want me there?_

She couldn't help but smile. He was so big and bad but still so unsure of himself at times.

_I wouldn't have asked if I didn't_.

And then, before he could text back, she wrote,

_I really don't want to be alone tonight_.

She was still unsure of what type of relationship they had, but she knew that she wanted his comfort right now. She just hoped he didn't think she was a needy little kid that he was getting annoyed with.

_Give me 20 and I'll be there._

And now she felt like a giddy little school girl with how happy that simple text had made her.

"I take it he's staying?" Arya asked with a wry grin.

"He's on his way."

"Well, I'm going to go pack an overnight bag." Arya patted her shoulder. "I wont leave until the dog gets here, though." Sansa sighed and shook her head. Sometimes she found it humorous how Arya and Sandor continually taunted each other, like they were brother and sister. She wondered if they realized they had a lot in common. Not that she was mentioning that to either of them.

Ridiculously nervous for some reason, Sansa straightened up her already clean bedroom and bathroom before going downstairs and cleaning the already sparkling kitchen. She was just finishing putting the last of the three dirty glasses in the dishwasher when her phone buzzed.

_Open your garage._

Heart slamming into her throat, Sansa opened the door in the kitchen that opened into the tiny garage and hit the button to open the bay door. Sandor had already shut the engine of his bike off and walked it into the basically empty garage. He simply had no idea how sexy he looked straddling that thing as he moved it inside. And just like that, just seeing him walking into her house, all of her fears and worries seemed to began to ebb. She trusted this man and knew that whatever came, whatever happened, he would be there by her side. Maybe, in that respect at least, he was like the dog he was often referred to.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still figuring out some finer details of the plot, so in the meanwhile, here's some more sexy time!

Sandor had an odd feeling in his gut as he drove over to Sansa's that evening. It was a feeling that had gotten him by in life, one that had helped him survive when other men hadn't. Gut instinct, intuition, a sixth sense. Whatever the fuck you wanted to call it, it had never let him down in the past. Something was wrong with Sansa, he just wasn't sure what it was exactly. The part of his brain that told him every day that Sansa was far too good for him said she was probably coming to her senses and telling him to get lost. But, then why would she have asked him to stay the night with her?

Once he seen her the feeling intensified. She stood with a stiff spine in the doorway into the house, arms hugging herself. With her tall thick socks over leggings and her oversized sweater, free from makeup and her hair in a pony tail, she looked like a frightened little girl. He hung his helmet on the handle bar of his bike then turned to face her, one hand gripping the strap of his backpack. For a long time she didn't say anything, just stared at him.

"Somethings wrong." he finally broke the silence and she seemed to start.

"Oh." she shook herself a little. "Sorry. Please, come in." she stepped to the side to allow him to enter before closing both the garage door and the kitchen door before reactivating the alarm system. He walked to the little island and sat his backpack down on it before turning to face her.

"What's wrong, little bird?" he asked, needing to know something so maybe the ache in his chest would ease up a bit. She opened her mouth to say something when her sister damn near barreled down the staircase and interrupted her. He turned around to watch the other Stark girl saunter into the kitchen, a small bag over her shoulder.

"Dog." she sneered.

"Wolf bitch." he said with the same amount of acid. Which wasnt really much. Here lately the insults they threw at one another were loosing most of their venom. What was it about Starks? Sansa sighed long and loud but didnt say anything. Arya looked past him to her sister.

"I'm out. If you need anything just give me a call."

"I will." Sansa smiled at her sister. "Be safe." Arya nodded, then narrowed her eyes at Sandor.

"You keep her safe, Sandor." she said with an amount of seriousness he hadn't heard come from her. He furrowed his brow at her, but she just spun around and left. Turning around to face Sansa, he raised his eyebrow.

"The fuck was that about?" She chewed her lip for a moment before moving to the fridge and opening it.

"You want something to drink?" she asked, all cold courtisies. "We have tea or soda."

"I dont want anything to drink." he moved to her and grasped her shoulders, turning her so she faced him. "I want to know what the fuck is wrong."

"Why would you think something is wrong?" her voice trembled a little.

"You are a terrible liar, Sansa Stark, so don't even try it." he warned her. "I know something is wrong, so just tell me what it is, girl." It was then that he realized her body was trembling under his hands. His frustration gave way to a need to protect her and comfort her, but he had no idea how to do that, which in turn frustrated him again.

"Talk to me, damn it." he shook her gently. "You're shaking like a fucking leaf."

"It's Joffrey." her words came out sounding hollow and when her big blue eyes lifted to meet his, there was nothing there but an empty void. He'd heard her sound like that before, had seen that vacant look in her eyes back during the last of her time with Joffrey. He'd hated it then and he found that he hated even more now.

"Joffrey?" he growled, his fingers clenching her shoulders harder then he'd realized. When she flinched a little he quickly released her. A surge of rage so overpowering rushed through him that he actively had to fight against running his fist through the expensive stainless steal of her refridgerator. Clenching his hands into tight fists he turned from Sansa and pressed his knuckles into the countertop of the small island.

"What about Joffrey?" he growled although he'd already guessed the answer to that.

"He was parolled." came her hallow voice. "He's under house arrest, living with his grandfather here in the city." Sandor squeezed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths to help calm himself before turning to face her again. That cold expression, those vacant eyes, tore at his gut.

He had a million questions and concerns running through his mind, but not a single thing mattered more at the moment then to put some sort of life back into her eyes. And he only knew one way to do it. Taking the few steps towards her to close the distance between them, he placed a hand on either side of her slender throat, his thumbs rising to rub against her cheeks. Her eyes only widened a fraction, still no spark.

"What are you doing?" he took a small step back and grabbed the hem of her oversized sweater, pulling it off in one swift move. He went instantly hard when she seen she was bare underneath. He fought the urge, the instinct, to touch her breasts and instead lifted her to the counter behind her.

Totally docile, completely disempassioned, she watched him as he moved.

Grabbing an ankle, he pulled her foot up to his waist and slowly pulled off the first sock. Holding her empty gaze, he lifted her foot to his mouth and grazed his teeth over the side of her arch.

A small intake of air, then nothing.

Dropping her foot he went to work on the other, doing the same thing only this time he gave her toe a gentle suck. This time her nipples hardned and her eyes almost fluttered shut. Sandor almost grinned. Now he was getting somewhere.

"Remember the last time I had you on a kitchen counter?" he asked casually, pushing her knees apart and stepping between her spread thighs, but keeping his chest well away from hers. He didnt want to give her any sort of stimulation just yet. Her chest started rising and falling more rapidly. He lowered his mouth to hers and nipped her bottom lip, then ran his tongue over it. She whimpered, whether in answer or reaction he wasnt sure.

"You came all over my hand, my fingers buried deep inside you." he spoke low, keeping his mouth near hers before running the blade of his teeth up her jawline to her ear.

"Should I make you come like that again, little bird?" he licked the shell of her ear and her body gave a deep tremble. His hands pushed up the insides of her thighs until his thumbs rested just at the sides of her center. Sansa sucked in a breath, then held it. Sandor grinned and sucked the lobe of her ear into his mouth before moving his hands over her hips and up her torso until his hands framed her breasts, still not touching her fully.

"Or should we see if I can make you sing just from this?" now he covered her fully, his fingers plucking her hardened nipples. Sansa gasped, then moaned, her head lolling back on her shoulders. He lifted his head from her ear and looked at her face. Her cheeks were flushed but her eyes were closed.

"Open your eyes, Sansa." he pinched her harder and she almost squeaked. "Look at me." Her eyes fluttered open and there was no emptiness in those blue depths, only want and need.

"Do you want me to take you here in your kitchen?" he asked her. "Or do you want me somewhere else?"

"Up..upstairs." she paused to moan when he leaned down and sucked a nipple into his mouth, twirling his tongue around the tip. "In my bed." she finally finished on a gust of air.

"Mmm." he released her with a pop. "Alright, but first I'm going to eat you here on the counter." he moved to her other breast and nipped her tight bud, causing her back to jerk.

"Sandor." his name almost sounded like she was denying him.

"Come on, Sansa." he stood up straight so he could look at her, and push his hardness against her center. "With all your manners you cant sit there and tell me you eat in bed. I'm only trying to be courteous." She laughed lightly at his teasing, then pinned him with a look of mock disbelief.

"You, Sandor Clegane, don't have an ounce of courtesy in you." she leaned forward and kissed the burnt corner of his mouth. "Or manners." she gave him a hot grin. "And that's why I'm allowing you to go down on me in my kitchen, on my counter." His groin pounded at her teasing. She was getting more comfortable with him and with her sexuality and it was a damn hot thing to witness.

"As reward for bad behavior I get to pleasure you?" he raised his brow, his hands still fondling her breasts, his hard on still rubbing her soft folds through her leggings.

"Reward. Punishment." she shrugged, then grinned again. "Whatever you want to call it." Now he laughed. Like having his mouth on any part of her body would ever be considered punishment.

With her help he got her leggings and panties off, and moments later she was gasping his name as she covered his face with her release. Before she could fully recover, he lifted her off the counter and tossed her over his shoulder. He made it to the stairs before she started protesting.

"Sandor!" she pushed up her upper body with her hands against his back. "Put me down!"

"Not a chance." Her legs started to kick against him so he swatted her arse that was so perfectly up in the air for it. She gasped, her body tightening before relaxing in a second. As he moved up the stairs, he smoothed a palm over the offended cheek.

"Now you know what happens when you fight me, girl."

"You are a savage." her voice was breathy. He swatted her arse again, a little firmer this time and she squealed, her fingers pinching against his back as she fisted her hands. But he didn't miss the fact that she ground her hips into his chest.

"Who's the savage, Sansa?" he turned down the hall towards her room. "Me? Or does the fact you like you arse spanked make you a savage as well?"

"I don't like it." she protested weakly. He didn't paused even a second before giving her another spank.

"Don't lie to me." he warned her, then he lets his fingers glide down the crevice of her cheeks until he touched her swollen lips, which were burning hot and soaking wet. "Not ever. Especially about something that gives you pleasure." He kicked her bedroom door shut behind him before laying her on her bed. Clicking on the lamp at her bedside, he kicked off his boots and pulled his shirt off, but left his pants on.

"How," she licked her lips, sitting up on the edge of the bed. "How did you know I would like that?"

"I didn't." he shrugged. "Not everyone likes the same things. But I know your bodies reactions when something excites it."

"So you've...you've done that to other girls and they liked it?" He hesitated, not wanting to talk about his time with other women when he had her naked in bed. But he didn't think she was asking out of jealousy, just out of general curiosity, wanting to make sure she wasn't some depraved slut that enjoyed being spanked.

"You're not the only person that enjoys it." he assured her, undoing his pants. He shoved his jeans off and hooked his thumbs in his boxer briefs when she stood up and grabbed his wrists, stopping him. He looked up at her in surprise. She met his gaze hesitantly.

"Can I...would you like it if I, if I did what you did to me?" He growled, a little dizzy with a sudden rush of arousal, then grabbed her shoulders, walking her backwards until she sat on the edge of the bed again, which put her close to eye level with his cotton covered erection. She took hold of his hips and he rubbed his fingers against her jaw before digging his fingers into her hair and massaging her scalp. She cupped his length in her hand, running the heal of it along his length.

"I've never done this before." she whispered, then looked up at him. "I don't really know what to do."

"Do what feels right." he growled. "I'll help you along the way." She nodded and looked back at her hand on him. He thought she would pull his briefs down first, but instead she pressed her lips close to the head of his cock and kissed. He groaned loudly, then let his hands fall from her hair, worried he would hurt her if he kept touching her. He watched her slowly pull his briefs down, and he helped her by stepping out of them and kicking them somewhere in the room before bracing his feet apart and clenching his fists at his sides. For a long, agonizing moment, she just looked at him, not touching. He was so bloody fucking hard that his dick pointed up towards his navel.

"Sansa." he groaned. "Touch me." Before he came from her just looking at him. Using both hands, she wrapped her fingers around his length, one fist over the other, leaving only the head of his cock showing. She leaned forward and gave it on open mouth kiss before pulling back and looking up at him.

"It looks different." she whispered, her fingers rhythmically clenching along him. What she didn't have to say was that it looked different from Joffrey's. It was the only other cock she'd ever seen, at least in real life. She let go with her top hand and trailed a finger down the vein on his underside.

"Bigger and thicker." she whispered, almost in awe. "But there's also this." her index finger traced over the opening of his foreskin where the tip of him breached slightly.

"Not circumcised." and he was going to go insane if she didn't put him in her mouth soon. "Pull the sheath back." he growled through clenched teeth.

"It wont hurt?"

"Nothing you do is going to hurt." he tried to sound reassuring, but his voice was almost animalistic. "I like it rough. Just don't bite me hard." With a shy grin, she did as he instructed and finally, finally, sucked him into her mouth.

"Relax and move back and forth." he needed something to ground himself, so he brought his hands up to rest on her head, but he didn't guide her movements just yet. "Fuck. Like that." he fought against letting his head fall back. He wanted to watch her. After she moved tentatively for a few moments, she grew more brave and started going faster, taking more of him into her mouth.

"Don't." he grunted when he hit the back of her throat and she made a soft gagging noise. "Don't choke yourself. Take what you can and stroke the rest." She nodded with him still in her mouth and started moving her hand in counter to her mouth. It felt good, too damn good. After letting her move on him for a few minutes, he felt his orgasm coming on. Grabbing a fist full of her hair, he pulled her head back.

"Enough." he growled.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, but the mischievous glint in her eye told him she damn well knew she hadn't.

"You almost had me coming down your throat." He went to step back, but she grabbed his hips and stopped him, leaning forward to retake his head in her mouth.

"I want you to." she whispered, bringing a hand down to stroke him. He only hesitated a second before stepping back into her and letting her have her way. She worked him over, inexpertly but enthusiastically, and soon his release was building back up.

"Keep your hand at the base." he managed to ground out. "I need to thrust and I don't want to choke you." Holding him tightly, she looked up at him, her mouth wrapped around him, and he took hold of the sides of her face to hold her still while he thrust.

"Gods." he panted, watching as he went back and forth into her mouth. "Suck on me. Do it hard." She did, the act causing her cheeks to hallow out. Fitting his thumbs into those hallows, he damn near roared out his release as he filled her mouth with his pleasure. His thighs burnt from the effort of standing and he felt mildly guilty that he'd come in her mouth, until he looked back down to see her swallow. Dropping a kiss to his upper thigh, she laid her forehead on his hip and sighed, a sound so content he almost laughed until he remembered what he'd been distracting her from. She'd done a bloody good job of making him forget as well.

But now he was thinking straight again so he pushed her to lay back on the pillows then went back downstairs to check her door and make sure the alarm was armed. He was heading into the kitchen to check that door and get a soda when he came to a sudden halt, the large wolf dog standing in the living room just before the kitchen. She eyed him warily and he took a few deliberate steps forward before squatting down to her level and holding out a hand to her. Her too aware eyes studied him before she padded over to him and sniffed his hand. Once she made up her mind on whether to trust him or not, she forced her head into his hand so he would scratch her ears.

"Good girl." he pat her head and then went on to finish what he'd started. The dog followed him to the base of the stairs, but didn't make a move to follow him up.

"Watch the doors, wolf." he pet her again before heading upstairs and back to Sansa. At least for tonight she'd have two guard dogs. He just hoped the one downstairs would let him have the pleasure of ripping the boy cunts throat out if he should show.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that awesome smut I gave you guys last chapter?? Yeah? Good. Keep that in mind during this chapter and try not to hate me very much!

The last day of school before Spring Break started had the campus buzzing. Everyone was talking about the different trips or parties they would be going to, all the beaches and resorts and booze. Sansa felt like pouting. Her spring break would consist of working out, self defense courses, and weapons training. How fun was that going to be?

Well, she would be spending the whole time with Sandor. That was a plus.

He wasn't happy about it at all. In fact, he'd raged around her room when she'd told him. He was in agreement with her fathers previous plans of locking her up in a tall tower so no one could touch her. He calmed only slightly when she pointed out that would include him. If she had to move back in with her parents, the wouldn't be able to spend their evenings together as they had been.

At first he wanted her to stay with him every night. Joffrey or any of the Lannister's wouldn't even think to look for her there, and they had no idea where he lived even if they did. Sansa gently reminded him that her father would be watching her much more closely now and would know if she wasn't staying at her place every night. So he stayed every night with her and was now in possession of the garage door opener and the code to the alarm system. He was just as overbearing and paranoid as her father was. Not that she minded. She enjoyed him in her bed every night and it made her all warm inside to see how worried about her he was.

And, to be honest, she was frightened. She just kept telling herself that she was being silly. If Joffrey had wanted to harm her, he could have done it while he was in prison. And nothing had happened and that soothed her fears a little.

But that sense of security was quickly shattered when she got to her car that evening after classes. There, in the windshield wiper of her car was a single red rose. Fear gripping her belly, she stared at it for a long time before spinning around and searching her surroundings. She half expected to find Joffrey standing behind her with that cruel smirk of his. He wasn't there, of course, but that didn't calm her nerves.

Gasping for breath and shaking violently, she leaned back against her car, her eyes still frantically searching for golden hair.

"Ms. Stark?" The young man that approached her had her nearly screaming as she stumbled back away from him. He held out his hands quickly and quit walking towards her.

"It's alright, Sansa." he said softly. "My name is Tilman. I'm the guard your father hired." he was dressed like any other college student in jeans and a tee with a messenger bag over his neck and a windbreaker on. Sansa eyed him suspiciously. Seeing her hesitance, he lifted the edge of his windbreaker that showed the shoulder harness he hid under it along with the pistol.

"Did something happen?" he asked, dropping the coat. "You seemed panicked."

"There." she pointed to her windshield with a shaky finger. Tilman went to the hood of her car and examined the rose without touching it.

"How do you know it was him that did this?" He asked. He didn't even have to ask who she thought it was.

"He used to leave me notes or flowers like that all the time." Tilman nodded and pulled out his phone and made a call. When she moved to open the door, he grabbed her shoulder to stop her.

"Don't touch the car." he pulled her back away from it.

"Sir, we've had an issue." he said into the phone. Sansa stood close to Tilman while he relayed what had happened to whoever he was talking to. "Of course, sir." he hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket.

"Why cant I touch the car?"

"We need to have it searched, make sure there hasn't been any tampering with it." Sansa swallowed hard.

"You mean, he might have put a bomb on it or something?" Tilman gave her an assessing look.

"Maybe. Or cut the break lines. Probably not, but we can't take any chances. A tow truck is coming to get your car so it looks like it's just broke down and the car will be swept."

"How am I supposed to get home?"

"Your father is sending someone to come get you."

A few minutes later a tow truck arrived along with her families Lexus. Sandor stepped out of the car and spoke with the tow truck driver and Tilman for a few moments while looking over her car. He looked at her only once, his face and eyes expressionless and hard to read.

"Don't miss a single fucking inch." she heard him tell the tow truck driver before coming over to her. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fine." she gave him a quick smile. He eyed her a moment longer, like he didn't really believe her. He didn't press the issue, though, and led her to the car.

"Where's daddy?" she asked once they were driving. Sandor was in his suit so he must have came from him.

"At home. We'd just gotten in when Tilman called. He's making phone calls to the university to see if we can get some camera footage of your car. See if we can see exactly who did it."

"I know exactly who did it." she turned in her seat to face him. "It was Joffrey. Maybe not him personally, but he was the one who had it done."

"Sansa." Sandor sighed. "You are a drop dead gorgeous woman who also happens to be sexy as fuck. There are plenty of guys at that school who could be a secret admirer." Compliments aside, Sansa bristled.

"You don't believe me?" she snapped, going between being angry and being hurt. He glanced over at her and must of seen something on her face because he cursed under his breath, then pulled the car over and threw it in park before turning to her.

"Yes, Sansa, I believe you. I don't for one second think it was anyone other then that sick little cunt. But we need more then that if we're going to get him back in prison." Relieved and a little embarrassed now, Sansa looked into her lap.

"Thank you." she sniffed, her nose tickling from the want to cry. "And I'm sorry. I'm just so scared." Reaching across the seat, Sandor snagged the back of her neck and pulled her to him, his mouth capturing hers hard.

"Don't ever fucking apologize to me, Sansa." he said once he pulled his mouth away, but kept his hand at the back of her neck and her face close. "Not for that." Sansa held his gaze and licked her lips before nodding her head.

"Don't be scared, little bird." he said softer, his fingers massaging her neck. "I swear to all the gods, I wont let him hurt you again. If it's the last bloody thing I do in this awful world, I'll keep you safe." Sansa lost the battle with her tears and they slid hotly down her cheeks.

"I know you will." she whispered, touching his chin. "But you cant be there all the time, so show me how to keep myself safe." His jaw clenched twice, his burnt lip twitching, then he sat back in his seat.

"Aye." he nodded, pulling the car back onto the road. "We start tomorrow morning."

 

Sansa was thin, but it wasn't because she worked out. She was blessed with her mothers slight figure and her fathers fast metabolism. She'd never played a sport in her life, or even ran for that matter. She did yoga and on occasion walked. Sandor had forced her to get up early even though it was the first day of spring break, breakfast already made for her. After finishing the oatmeal with dried apricots and berries, she stumbled back upstairs to get dressed.

"Not a fucking chance." Sandor growled when she came back downstairs.

"What?" she asked, looking down at the floral Capri leggings and racer back sports bra tank she wore.

"I'm working out with you in front of your father and brothers, Sansa." he explained in exasperation. "There is no fucking way I'm doing it while you're dressed like that."

"They're workout clothes, Sandor."  
"And I can see ever single detail of your body." he shook his head. "No. Go change into some basketball shorts and a baggy t shirt."

"I don't own those things." Sansa put her hands on her hips.

"Then borrow some from the she-wolf." he snapped. "You cant expect me to do this, in front of your bloody family, when your like to give me a hard on." Sansa groaned and grumbled as she went back upstairs, but couldn't help but smile. Arya had stayed with Gendry again last night, so Sansa went into her bedroom and nearly fainted at how dirty it was. Luckily there was a laundry basket with clean clothes sitting on the chair next to her bed. Digging in it, she found a pair of basketball shorts and a t shirt. After changing, she went back downstairs.

"Is this acceptable, master?" she asked teasingly but he narrowed his eyes at her, the heat in them making her stomach wobbly.

"Careful with that, little bird." he came over to her and grabbed her pony tail, forcing her head back. "I'm might just want to hear you say that when you're on your knees." Sansa gasped, her face heating and her stomach flipping deliciously. Sandor bit her bottom lip, then stepped away from her.

"I'll see you in a bit." with that, he turned and left. Sansa quickly got herself together and grabbed her bag, which held a change of clothes and a water bottle. She waited long enough for Sandor to make it to her parents, then left herself.

When she got there, she seen Robb and Jon's vehicles already parked around back where a guest house had been converted into a gym, complete with all the physical therapy equipment that Bran needed to do his therapy. Inside she found her father and brothers with Sandor. Seeing them all together made her stomach knot nervously.

"Sansa." her father was the first to greet her. Like Sandor and her brothers, he wore athletic shorts and a t shirt.

"Let's get started." she dropped her bag near the door and went to where her brothers and Sandor stood. "What do we do?"

"Wrap her hands," he said to no one in particular. "And then well get started with a warm up." Robb was the one that wrapped her hands and the four of them followed Sandor's warm up. When it was over, Sansa thought she was going to pass out.

"Alright, self defense." Sandor came to stand in front of her, her brothers and father stepping off to the side. "Punch me."

"Excuse me?" she panted.

"Punch me." he spread his arms a little. "Show me what I'm working with." Sansa had never punched anything in her life, let alone another person.

"I don't want to hurt you." That made all four men laugh and she crossed her arms.

"You wont." he assured her. "Now, hit me."

"Fine." she took a little step back, pulled her right fist back, then threw it towards the center of his chest as hard as she could. He easily grabbed her wrist a split second before she would have made contact with his chest.

"A punch to the solar plexus is effective." he pulled her fist the rest of the way to his chest, indicating where she would have hit him. "As long as you have the strength for it. And the person you're hitting isn't twice your size." He dropped her wrist.

"You don't have the strength, especially with a man my size."

"Then I hit you in the face?" Sansa asked.

"No." he shook his head. "You're too short and still not strong enough to do much damage if you hit my face. It would only anger who ever it is you're defending yourself against." He tilted his chin back slightly, pointing to his throat.

"If you're going to hit someone, especially if they're bigger then you, go for the throat. You don't have to have much strength for it to be effective."

"Okay." he nodded, then braced his feet again.

"Show me your stance before you hit." Sansa hesitated, then braced her feet at shoulder width and held up her fist, pulling it back. Sandor grinned, then shook his head.

"Stand like this." he angled his body to the side, taking on a boxers stance. Sansa mirrored his pose. "Good. And when you strike, spin your hips, put all of your body weight into it." He slow motion punched, showing her how to do it. Sansa did it as well.

"Good." he nodded and returned to his previous stance with his feet braced apart. "Now, hit me again." Sansa did, this time aiming for his throat. Again, he caught her fist before she made contact.

"Better. But you need to move faster." She did it again, faster this time, but he still caught her wrist.

"You're expecting it." she breathed hard.

"Of course I am." he agreed. "That's not the point. If you make a move to punch and don't do it fast enough, who ever your hitting is going to see it coming as well." he looked over at her brothers.

"Jon, come here." Jon didn't hesitate before coming to stand in front of Sandor. "Jon, I'm going to hit you." Jon's eyes went a little wide, but he nodded, bracing his feet. Sansa watched as Sandor slowly took his boxers stance again, then in a blink of an eye, he was throwing a fist towards Jon's face. Jon barely had time to tense let alone stop him or duck. Sandor pulled his fist to a stop a fraction of an inch from hitting Jon's temple.

"See, Jon knew I was going to hit him, but I moved too fast. He still didn't have time to react." he turned back to Jon.

"Hit me." he told Jon, who made a show of taking his stance. Then, before Sansa seen it coming, he was throwing a punch at Sandor's stomach. Sandor only had time to turn to the side slightly, a leg coming up to block the punch but he was too slow. Jon stopped before actually making contact.

"See, it's about speed."

"You two have been doing this your whole lives." Sansa complained. "There's no way I can be as fast as you."

"Your right." Sandor nodded. "But when Joffrey has you attacked, do you think they're going to slow down because you're new at this?"

"Fine." she nodded. "Show me how to do it faster."

"That comes with time." Sandor turned back to Jon. "Watch what I'm doing. I'll move slow." Sansa nodded and watched him closely.

"When you're facing someone that's bigger then you, remember there are four vulnerable points." he looked at Jon. "Just hold still. I wont actually hurt you." Jon nodded, not looking worried at all.

"First, his toes." Sandor made a move to stomp on Jon's foot, but hit the ground just in front of his sneaker. "His throat." he made a jab up to Jon's throat. "His eyes." with his other hand, he made a quick move to shove his thumb into Jon's eye, stopping so it just rested there. "And, of course, the one place where any man, no matter his size, is vulnerable." he lifted the knee of the leg that had stomped on the toes so it was between Jon's thighs. Even though Sandor pulled back before making contact, Jon still flinched, jerking his hips back slightly.  
For the next hour, Sansa ran over the four steps again and again using Jon and then Robb as an attacker while Sandor critiqued and observed. By the time they were done, Sansa was hot and sweaty and exhausted.

"You did good for your first time." Sandor told her while she drank from her water deeply.

"You did, San." Robb slapped her shoulder. "Keep after it and I'll see you back here tomorrow morning." he shook Sandor's hand before leaving with Jon.

"We're doing this again tomorrow?" she gaped at her father who laughed.

"Yes. Every morning of your break you'll be doing self defense with Clegane and I also want you at the range with him for weapons training when he has openings."

"What about you?" Sansa asked. "Isn't he your guard?" Not that she wanted to be doing this with anyone else, but she also felt bad for leaving her father unprotected.

"Tilman will be with me." Her father assured her. "I want you with Clegane. He has more training in hand to hand and self defense then anyone else I employ. And he's also the best marksmen I've ever met." Sansa looked over at Sandor, who only looked mildly smug.

"We'll do the range every evening starting at six. I'll have all your equipment with me there."

"Oh, and Sansa, I should probably let you know that I'm stationing a guard outside your condo as well." Sansa gasped and spun on her father.

"What?"

"We're not discussing it." her father said firmly. "If that flower was from Joffrey, then it's a good a sign as any that he's coming for you. I wont let you be left alone. You either have the guard posted outside your house, or your moving back into the main house." Sansa sent Sandor a quick glance. He lifted his brow but otherwise gave no indication of his feelings. Sansa understood her fathers stance, of course, and she would willingly except it if it weren't for one thing. Sandor and her time with him.

"Daddy, there's something I need to talk with you about." she looked up at her dad who sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Please, Sansa. Don't argue with me on this."

"No, I'm not." she cast a nervous glance at Sandor again. By his somewhat shocked expression, he got where she was going with this. "It's about something else." she looked back at her dad.

"Can it wait?" he asked, checking his watch. "I need to get into the office. I'm afraid I wont be able to be here for most of your training."

"That's fine, daddy. But I'd really like to discuss this with you now."

"Alright, what is it?" she took a hesitant step towards Sandor before meeting her fathers gaze.

"Daddy, I've been..."

"Sansa, your father needs to get to work and I have some things I need to do before the range." Sandor cut in and she jerked her head towards him in surprise. "I can give you a ride back to your place but we should leave now."

"Of course, Clegane, thank you." Ned shook Sandor's hand. "Sansa, we'll talk about this later, okay?" Confused and thrown off, Sansa just nodded.

"What the hells do you think you're doing, Sansa?" Sandor turned on her once her father was out of the gym. Sansa reeled back, shaking her head.

"Don't you get it?" she pleaded. "If I'm to have a guard watching the house, then daddy will know your staying with me. I'd rather be the one to tell him then one of his guards."

"Then I wont stay." he snapped.

"But..." she didn't know what else to say, her voice trailing off.

"Sansa, your father has more then enough to worry about right now without laying all of our shit on him." Sansa cheered slightly at his explanation. He was right, after all.

"Besides, maybe we should slow down anyway." Her heart stuttered then fell into her belly.

"What do you mean?" she asked softly, fearing his answer.

"Gods, Sansa." he sighed. "This is too bloody much. I cant fucking concentrate on keeping you safe while trying to figure out what the hells is going on between us. It's good, bloody fucking good, but it's a distraction that I don't need right now. It's been fun, but..."

_It's been fun._

Sansa felt her heart constrict in her chest at his words, so painful she fought to breath while trying not to cry.

_It's been fun._

That's what he thought this was?

Holding up both hands, Sansa stopped him from going on.

"I get it." she said, her voice sounding hallow even to her own ears. _There is a door. Keep it barred tight_. She reminded herself. Sandor wasn't the type of man that handled tears well, so she shut the door on her emotions and barred it as tightly as she could.

"I need to shower." she turned from him and shoved her water bottle back into her bag. "Should I meet you at the range at six?"

"I'll drive you home." his voice came from behind her but she refused to turn to face m. "And I can take you to the range. You don't have a car, remember?"

"I'm going to stay here for a while." she said quickly. She hadn't planned on that, but there was no way she could stand riding in a car with him right now. "And I'll borrow one of the cars and drive myself to the range."

"Okay." he said after a long stretch of silence. Pulling her bag over her shoulder, she headed towards the door without looking back at him.

"Sansa." the lump in her throat was close to choking her. She couldn't seem to get that damn door shut on her emotions. She stopped, but didn't turn to face him. A moment passed and when he still said nothing, she left the gym and all but ran to the main house.

_It's been fun._

Getting into the shower in the main guest bathroom, she finally allowed herself to cry. Pressing a hand to her lips, she flinched a little. They were bruised slightly from his kisses. Her hips were still sore from his roughness during the night previous. Looking down, she could see the red marks along her breasts from his beard scruff, and again further down on the insides of her thighs. Bruises that looked to be his thumb size marked both her hips.

He destroyed her, but it was in the most beautiful way she could imagine.

And now he was gone. For the first time in her life, she understood why storms were named after people.

_It's been fun._


	5. Chapter 5

He was a prick and he fucking knew it. Actually, that wasn't a new discovery. He'd always known he was a jackass. It was just the first time he actually regretted that he was or what it did to others. In this case, Sansa. He wasn't blind. He watched at she completely shut down after what he said. And it...well, fuck, it hurt. Obviously not as much as it hurt her, though. All the light and life and emotion had drained out of her eyes, replaced by that horrible blankness that was her armor during her time with Joffrey, but only after he'd seen the confused hurt.

Prick or not, he wasnt going to go back on what he said, especially since it was true. He needed to be completely focus on this Joffrey situation and messing around with Sansa was far too much of a distraction. He refused to dwell on the fact that one of the major driving forces behind stopping her from telling Ned was the sudden rush of fear that washed through him.

Sandor didn't like to consider himself a craven, even when he knew he bloody well was.

The gun range proved to be one of the worst experiences of his life. Sansa was all cold courtesies and empty eyes. And it was hard not to wrap his arms around her waist when she aimed the gun, or kiss her lips when she finally hit the target. She hardly said a damn thing, only when she was forced to speak. He was unsure of what to say, so he didn't talk other then instructing her.

When the lesson was up, she left before he even had time to repack their weapons.

When he left the range, he went by her place and made sure the guard was posted. Once he was satisfied that the guard was fully aware of his duties, he drove to the nearest liquor store and bought the biggest bottle of Jameson they sold. After getting pissed, he passed out and for the first time since he'd first had Sansa, the fire returned to him in his dreams, although it was worse this time because it was Sansa's face in the flames and his hand holding her head down.

 

Sansa laid awake most of the night. She cried and hurt, but as the sun came up she'd made up her mind to not be weak. She'd spent almost a year numbing herself and being only half alive. She refused to do that again. She was stronger than that now and although the pain and ache in her chest wasn't going to go away just because of that, she wasn't going to wallow in it, even if the hurt was worse then anything Joffrey had done to her.

If Sandor could be unaffected by this, then she could too.

First things first, she was going to wear whatever she wanted to work out. And that was her skin tight yoga capris and equally form fitting tank top. Sandor could damn well deal with a little discomfort if she was going to walk around with her heart bleeding.

When she arrived Robb and Jon were there, sparring with each other while Sandor watched with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You're leaving your face open, Robb." Sandor said after Jon landed a blow to Robb's chin.

"I know." Robb grumbled. Sansa dropped her bag next to the door, bringing the attention of all three men. Both her brothers smiled at her, but she didn't spare Sandor a glance to see his reaction.

"You guys ready?" she asked, approaching where the stood. Robb and Jon came off the mat they'd been sparring on and Jon helped her to wrap her hands before they started their warm up. It felt like an actual hard workout to Sansa, but she wasn't going to complain, especially not today.

When they finished and had taken a water break, she joined Sandor on the mat while her brothers stood off to the side. Standing in front of him, it was the first time that morning that she'd actually looked at his face. He looked like hell and was sweating more than normal. His eyes were bloodshot and she could just catch a faint hint of whiskey on his breath when he spoke.

The bastard had gotten drunk last night. Well, she hoped he felt like shit.

"Remember what I said yesterday?" he asked, not quite meeting her eyes.

"I remember everything you said yesterday." She said it pointedly and his eyes finally met hers. They were hard and closed off. That was fine. He could close himself off all he wanted. She wasn't going to. Sandor hated liars, and so did she. She wasn't going to deny that he'd hurt just to spare some sort of awkwardness between them.

"Right." he nodded after a moment. Off to the side, she seen her brothers give each other a look. "Toes, throat, eyes, and...uh, junk."

"Right. Toes, throat, eyes, and prick." she over enunciated the last word. Jon laughed and Sandor swallowed. She glared at him, crossing her arms.

"Yeah." he cleared his throat. "Come at me, slow at first." Sansa walked through the sequence several times at a slow pace, each strike stopping before reaching their impact.

"Good. Now step it up." She did it faster this time and when it came to the last strike, she landed it as hard as her knee could. His reaction was immediate and satisfying. He grunted, collapsing forward to grab his goodies. He didn't fall to his knees like she'd been hoping, but he did stagger over to the side and grab hold of one of the pillars, one hand still holding himself, cursing the whole while. Jon and Robb were both grimacing in sympathy, although Jon looked to be about to laugh again.

"Oh, I'm sorry." she made sure to sound completely unsorry. "Did I hurt you?" she walked to the edge of the mat, watching him with her hands on her hips. Sandor's head snapped up to her to glare.

"Yeah, you bloody well hurt me." he finally straightened, but he looked a little pale. Sansa grinned a little.

"Oops."

"Sansa, what the hell?" This from Robb, but Sansa didn't spare her brother a glance.

"Good." she took another step closer to Sandor and met his gaze with a look that she hoped showed him every ounce of hurt rushing through her. He actually flinched.

"Now we're even." she said softly. "Although I'm sure you'll recover much quicker." Looking more uncomfortable then she'd ever seen him, maybe even a little guilty, Sandor dropped her gaze and nodded.

"What is going on?" Sansa looked over at her brothers when Jon spoke. They were both standing with looks of equal confusion on their faces.

"Nothing." she said with a smile.

"He hurt you?" Robb asked, looking past her to glare at Sandor.

"It's fine, Robb, and it's also non of your business." she moved back to the center of the mat. "Are we doing this or not?" she asked Sandor.

"Yeah." he pushed off the pillar and winced a little. "Run through with one of your brothers. I need to sit for a minute." Jon joined her on the mat, eyes so much like their fathers studying her.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I will be." she smiled and he glanced over at where Sandor had taken a chair near the mat. "It's okay, Jon." he looked back at her with a grin.

"I believe you. Just, don't hurt me, 'kay? I'll go to my knees and beg for forgiveness for everything I've ever done to you, just don't rack me like that." Sansa laughed.

"No racking, I promise." The rest of training went well and after running through some more scenarios, Sandor had her work on her punching technique on one of the bags. Robb and Jon had to leave before that, though, only after asking her a thousand times if everything was alright.

"Remember to spin your hips and don't hold your breath." Sandor was telling her after she'd thrown yet another punch. "Breath out with each strike."

"I'm done." she turned away from him and the bag, pulling the wraps off her hands as she went to her bag to get her water.

"We still on for the range this evening?" he followed a few steps behind.

"No." she took a long draw off her water.

"What do you mean 'no'?" She turned and looked at him, narrowing her eyes.

"There is only one definition of that word, Sandor." she snapped. "I'm not going to the range tonight."

"Why?" he growled. "You need the time with a weapon."

"No, I need time away from you." she shoved the water back into her bag.

"Sansa, don't let your anger at me stop you from getting the training you need." She spun back around and took a step closer to him.

"I'm not, and I wont. But, Gods, Sandor." she paused to stop herself from crying. "Don't you think I deserve just a modicum of time to process and deal with your cold dismissal?" He swallowed hard again, and looked away from her. Not in all the time she had known him had he looked away from her so often.

"It wasn't a dismissal."

"No?" she felt like laughing, but she just shook her head. "Well, call it whatever you want. You could have at least given me some sort of indication that you were done before then so I could have at least prepared myself. You know, during that time you were using to fuck me? That would have been a prime time." She slung her bag over her shoulder and made to leave when he clasped a hand around her arm.

"Wait a damn minute." he pulled her around to face him. "Don't I even get a fucking chance to explain myself?"

"No." she jerked her arm out of his hand. "You explained yourself well enough when you told me 'it's been fun'."

"Shit, Sansa." he blew out a breath. "Give me a break here. I've never done anything like this before."

"You mean breaking someone's heart?" she shook her head. "No, Sandor. I don't think I'll give you a break."

"I didn't mean to break your heart." his voice came out softly and it nearly did her in.

"But you did." she whispered back, her voice shaking. He met her gaze again and his eyes looked panicked and guilty.

"I didn't know I had your heart to break." Now Sansa did laugh, softly and without humor and towards then end it turned into a little sob.

"You did. And you knew it, too, so don't stand there and lie to me or yourself."

"You shouldn't have done that." he said emphatically. "You shouldn't have given me that."

"You're right." she agreed, a tear freeing itself from her eye. "I shouldn't have." before she lost her control, she left the gym and made her way back to the main house.

After she took a shower, she went into the den and found Arya and Rickon playing a video game. She dropped into the chair next to the sofa and watched the TV screen as cars exploded and people dressed as soldiers shot at each other.

"You okay, San?" Arya asked without pausing in her game. She opened her mouth to say yes, but nothing came out. Arya cast her a glance and then did a quick double take before hitting pause.

"Hey!" Rickon complained.

"Hang on, Rick." Arya consoled him before turning back to Sansa. "Sansa, what's wrong?" Sansa swallowed a few times before she could speak.

"You were right." She didn't want to cry again, but couldn't help the tears that came.

"Son of a bitch." Arya cursed under her breath.

"Uh, I think I'm going to go find Bran." Rickon, obviously uncomfortable with his sisters emotional outburst, quickly left the den.

"Damn it, Sansa." Arya stood, fuming. "Where is he? I'll kick his sorry ass."

"No, don't." Sansa shook her head. "I don't want things to get any more awkward then they are now." she grinned then, and looked up at Arya. "Besides, I kneed him in the balls really hard a while ago." Arya's mouth dropped open for a second before she burst out laughing.

"Oh, Gods, that's great."

"Yeah. It was in front of Robb and Jon too." Sansa laughed then shook her head. "They're both demanding to know what's going on." Arya dropped back onto the sofa.

"You going to tell them?"

"No." She shook her head. "It's over now so there's no point in dragging it out or bringing them into it. Not with everything else that's going on right now."

"Maybe you should ask dad to switch your training to someone else."

"No, dad is right. Sandor is the best and I need that. I just..." Sansa paused, took a shuddering breath. "I was completely blind sided." Arya was quiet for a long stretch, then she came to sit next to Sansa.

"Wanna go out and get pissed?" Sansa laughed and wiped at her eyes.

"I don't think dad would appreciate that."

"Yeah, you're right." Arya grumbled. "We can stay in and get pissed. Here, that way we don't have to worry about being responsible for an alarm system."

"You want to get drunk at our parents house?"

"Why not?" Arya shrugged. "Mom and dad wont care. And this is a freaking mansion. We wont even have to see them."

"Alright." Sansa agreed. "Let's do it."

It occurred to Sansa that she'd gained a relationship even though she'd lost one. And so, tonight, she would get drunk with her sister and be happy that they had each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...at least there was kneeing of the balls! 
> 
> It'll get better. I promise. Just bare with me while these two crazy kids work their shit out.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to put this chapter and the last one together, but I don't know what happened lol. So you get a two for one today!

With Tilman taking over the care of Ned for now, Sandor didn't have much to do. He went up to the office after showering in the gym and did some paperwork even though it was hard to concentrate.

Sansa had surprised him today. Not that he didn't know she was strong, emotionally if not anything else. But, damn. His jewels still hurt. Not near as bad as it had hurt though when she'd blatantly told him he'd broken her heart. And damned if she wasn't right. He bloody well knew what he was capable of doing to her, even if he hadn't wanted to admit it to himself because that scared the shit out of him.

He could protect her physically. He could fight off all her enemies, slay all her dragons, and would sacrifice his body to save hers. But he wasn't sure he was capable of loving her the way someone like her deserved.

Obviously he wasn't, since he'd already managed to break her heart. His office door opening pulled him out of his thoughts and he was only mildly surprised to find both the young wolves walk in. Sandor knew he wasn't going to get by without having to answer some of their questions.

"Can I help you?" he growled, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. Robb sat down across from him, but Jon stayed standing.

"You mind explaining what the hell happened in the gym earlier?" Robb asked and Sandor almost grinned. The boy might look more like his mom, but he damn sure got his dads ability to stare someone down.

"You're sister nailed me in the balls." he glanced up at Jon who stared right back at him, his face giving away nothing.

"Yeah, and she said you two were even now. That you would recover faster." Robb leaned forward slightly. "What did you do to hurt her, Clegane?"

"I swear to the Gods, dog, I will gut you if you so much as laid a hand on her." this from Jon. Regardless of whether he deserved it or not, Sandor didn't take threats easily.

"I didn't fucking touch her." Sandor snapped. "At least not that she didn't want." Both Stark boys froze for a second.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Robb asked. Sandor groaned and ran a hand over his face.

"It means your sister and I had something going on." he met the older boys blue eyes. "And I fucked it up and hurt her."

"Son of a bitch." Jon laughed, then stopped when both men glared at him.

"Sorry, but damn." he looked at Robb. "Did you see that coming? Because I damn sure didn't."

"No, but then again, I never thought Sansa had it in her to knee a man in the balls."

"She break it off with you because you fucked up?" Sandor groaned again and rolled his head back on his neck. He really didn't want to discuss this shit with her brothers. But, he had dug his own hole.

"No." he looked back at Robb. "I broke it off with her." Both men gave him a look of surprise like they couldn't believe a man like him would give up a girl like Sansa. Yeah, well, he was having a hard time coming to terms with it himself.

"And that's where you fucked up." Jon said, a statement not a question.

"That's where I fucked up." Sandor agreed. "But it's for the best. I've got a lot of shit to focus on with Joffrey and the Lannisters. And neither of you can stand there and honestly say you think I'm a good enough man for your sister."

"You think Sansa doesn't have a lot of shit going on for the same reason?" Robb scoffed. "More so, man. She's the one that's having to deal with the actual threats. That's pretty fucking selfish to think you're dealing with more than her." Sandor opened his mouth to say something, but Jon cut him off.

"And don't be the sort of craven that goes to that line. 'I'm not good enough'," he mocked in a lower tone of voice. "Bullshit. If you want her then be better."

Shit. Fuck. Sandor closed his eyes for a second, his mind reeling. His hands clutched the side of his desk until his knuckles went white.

"You're both telling me you would be okay with me being with Sansa?"

"Sansa is a grown woman." Robb stood up. "And we're not her father. She'll be with who she wants to be with, and if that's you and you make her happy,"

"And treat her right." Jon added.

"And treat her right." Robb agreed. "Then neither of us have a say in it. But, man," Robb shook his head. "Get your head out of your ass before you loose her."

"Sansa is smart and sweet and beautiful." Jon needlessly pointed out. "You fuck around too much and someone else is going to do what you wouldn't." Sandor said nothing as the Stark boys left him. He was breathing hard and his mind was spinning.

Gods damn it. They were right. He was being a fucking idiot. A selfish fucking idiot.

Standing up so quickly the chair tipped over, Sandor flew out of the office not bothering to right it. He knew she hadn't left the mansion yet so he went about searching for her. Not an easy task when the mansion had 55 rooms and contained over 43,000 sq. ft. disrupted over four levels. Blaring music and laughter finally guided him to one of the many rooms, this one being a game room. Standing in the doorway he just stared for a long moment. Arya and Sansa both had glasses in their hands while they tried to play air hockey with their free hand. A pitcher of some sort of drink sat on the same table as the stereo. Sansa wasn't facing him, both girls focused on their game while he had a side view of them. Shit. She was gorgeous. What the hells had he been thinking?

_Be better_. Jon's words floated through his mind.

"Sansa?" Both girls turned to face him when he spoke, but he only looked at Sansa. It was like another kick in the nuts when her pretty smile completely faded.

"What do you want?" She asked.

"Can we talk?" he stayed in the doorway.

"Why?" she sat her glass down so she could put her fists on her hips. "So you can tell me how fun it's been?" She spit his words back at him and he took the blow like he knew he deserved. Yeah, that was a pretty shitty thing to say to someone.

"Please, little bird." her hard expression shattered and her bottom lip quivered for a second.

"You want me to toss the dog out?" Arya asked her sister but Sandor still watched Sansa. If she said yes, he'd let Arya toss him out. Sansa stared at him for such a long time he thought she wasn't going to speak at all.

"No." She finally said and he let out the breath he'd been holding. "What do you want to talk about, Mr. Clegane?" Sandor felt the burnt side of his mouth twitch. It'd been a long time since she called him that. But, again, he'd take it because he bloody well deserved it.

"Alone, Sansa." She hesitated again, but eventually looked and Arya and nodded her head. Arya grumbled a bit, but took her glass and left. Stopping at his side, she glared up at him.

"I'll be right outside." It was meant as a threat so Sandor took it as one and nodded. Arya left the door slightly cracked after she left. Sansa moved to the stereo and turned the music down. She kept the width of the room between them.

"What do you want?" she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. She wasn't going to make this easy for him.

"I'm a dick." he shrugged his shoulders. "Always have been. It's easier that way. And it's never mattered before." He looked up at her and took a few steps closer. "But it does now."

"Why?" she still didn't move off the wall. "Why does it matter now?"

"It matter's because it's you." he grumbled. Gods, he was bad at this. "Because you matter." Sansa held her place, but her eyes looked uncertain.

"You said it's been fun." she shook her head. "Like what we were doing hadn't meant anything more then just an entertaining way to pass the time. It made me feel like I was nothing more to you then someone like Tessa." Sandor hung his head for a second. He'd fucked up more then he'd actually realized.

"No, Sansa." he looked up at her and took a few more steps towards her. "That isn't...that wasn't." he stopped. "Fuck." he fisted the back of his hair for a second. "I didn't mean it like that. And you were never anything like Tessa." But how was she supposed to know that? He'd never told her as much.

"Then what did you mean it like?" she uncrossed her arms to put her hands on her hips. "How else was I supposed to take 'It's been fun, but...?"

"I shouldn't have said that."

"And I shouldn't have given you my heart." she again tossed his words back into his face. Sandor was silent for a long time, unsure of what to say. Or if there was anything to say.

"I'm..." he ran a hand over his burn scars, then closed the distance between them until there was just a few steps between them. He wanted, needed, her to see how much he meant what he was about to say. What he'd never once said to anyone else in his entire life.

"I'm sorry, Sansa. I'm sorry that I said that and I'm sorry I made you feel like you meant so little to me. And I'm so fucking sorry that I hurt you." he held up his arms while holding her gaze.

"I fucked up, little bird." Sansa stood there for a long time, her hands falling off her hips and her chest rising and falling quickly. Her mouth was open slightly and her eyes were a storm of emotion.

"You..." her voice trailed off. "You're sorry?" her voice was hardly louder than a whisper.

"Yes."

"And what do you want from me?" her eyes searched his, seemingly begging for something he wasn't sure of.

"I want you to forgive me." even though he didn't deserve it. "And I want you to let me touch you." Sansa swallowed hard then drew a shaky breath.

"No." she shook her head and Sandor felt his knees buckle. He just managed to stay standing upright.

"No, you cant touch me. I'll try and forgive you, but it's not going to happen in a second. And you're going to have to show me how sorry you are instead of just saying it."

"What do I need to do?" he demanded.

"That's for you to figure out." she took a step towards him and put her hand on his burned cheek. "But I can tell you one thing. If you hurt me again, if you so callously throw things at me like that, then you wont have another chance." with what seemed like some effort on her part, she pulled her hand away and walked past him to the door, pulling it open wide.

"Thank you for coming and talking with me." she said. "But I would like to get back to my evening with my sister." Sandor hesitated for a second before nodding. When he passed her at the door, he fought against the urge to kiss her, but he remembered she had said he couldn't touch her. So he wouldn't. Not until she wanted him to. If she ever wanted him to.

He felt better for having apologized. A little. And he still had a chance with her, however slim that chance was. Now he just needed to figure out how to go about winning her trust back.

And not fucking it up again.


	7. Chapter 7

Sandor's schedule went back to normal the next week when Sansa went back to school. Tilman fit the bill of a college student far better then anyone else in Ned's service, especially Sandor. He still arrived at the Stark mansion early every morning to train with Sansa, although their time together had to be cut down to just half an hour so they forewent any warmup exersize and just stuck straight to self defense.

Sansa impressed him with how quick she learnt. She made up for her lack of physical strength with agility and willingness to learn. And her weapons training was going even better. The girl proved to be a crack shot with a pistol. Knowing that helped ease some of the worry that constantly kept him on edge.

"You're not moving fast enough." he told her after a third run threw of a newer and more advanced strike rotation.

"I know." she panted, wiping sweaty hair from her forehead. Since they'd talked a few days ago she wasnt so cold with him. She treated him like she did her friends, which was irritating as fuck. He didn't want to be her bloody friend. He wanted her to smile at him like she used to, confide her fears in him like she once had, he even wanted her to press him into talking about himself again. And he wanted her. It was the hardest thing to not touch her, to drop a kiss on her forehead after a sequence or wrap his arms around her waist in the gun range when she took aim.

"If you make a move to strike and don't follow through fast enough, they're going to see what's coming and adjust for it."

"Okay." she nodded, clearly frustrated with herself.

"Do it again, but this time don't look where you're planning on hitting me." She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath through her nose. When she opened them, she looked past his shoulder but he seen her cock her leg back and she hesitated, presumably to build up strength behind the kick. He parried the kick, blocked a too slow punch, and grabbed her arm, spinning her around. She gasped, then grunted when her back slammed against his chest. Catching her free arm, he banded both of his around hers against her chest and lifted slightly so she was forced to go on tiptoe.

"Shit." he heard Ned curse under his breath from the side of the mat. Sansa panicked in his arms, flailing about to try and free herself.

"Calm down." he squeezed her a little tighter and she fought harder.

"Stop fighting, Sansa." he said a little more forcefully and she went lax in his hold.

"Good. Now think. You're not strong enough to break my hold so find another way." She started wiggling again, her forearms pushing against his hold.

"Relax. Think, Sansa." he said to the back of her head. "Feel my body around yours. Feel for any resistance, any room you might have to make a move."

"You're like being held by a brick wall." she complained under her breath and Sandor grinned. He felt her body move slightly, her testing for any advantages she might have. Her foot lifted off the ground and tested the distance to his shin.

"Too close. You wont be able to do enough. You're on your toes, you wont have any power." She sat her foot back down and suddenly she let her full body weight drop forward. She was light so it didn't have him stumbling, but he was distracted enough that he never seen her head jerking back towards his until her crown met his lip. He grunted, his hold loosening on her and giving her the moment she needed. She went flat to her feet, and at the same time yanked against his hold while stepping on the top of his foot. She spun out of his grip and turned to face him. From the side her father and Bran both applauded and Tilman laughed.

At least her older brothers missed todays training.

"Oh my Gods, Sandor." Sansa's horrified voice brought his attention back to her. She stared at him with wide eyes. "I am so, so sorry."

"Don't be sorry." he stood straighter and touched his bottom lip, which was starting to sting. "You did good."

"But you're bleeding!" she took a step closer to him and made a move like she wanted to touch his lip but stopped, her hands fluttering in the air before dropping to her sides.

"Just a little cut." he shrugged. "I'll survive."

"You alright, Clegane?" Ned asked, joining them on the mat.

"I've had worse." he lifted the bottom hem of his shirt to absorb the blood, he looked over at Sansa again who seemed a little pale now.

"Your head okay?" She lifted a hand and touched the back of it as if just remembering what she'd done.

"A little tender." she dropped her hand. "Not as much as I imagine your lip is. Gods, I'm so sorry."

"Really, Sansa, it's fine." he dropped the shirt, the blood pretty much stopping on it's own. "You did what I asked you to do and did a damn fine job of it."

"Damn fine, darling." Ned patted her back. "I'd wager not many people have made this man see his own blood and live to tell about it." Ned joked and Sandor grimaced. He had no idea how close to the truth he was. Or maybe he did.

"I should have pulled back." she worried her bottom lip. "I shouldn't have made contact."

"Contact slips sometimes." He held her gaze, letting her know he meant the other day when she kneed his balls. He still wasn't willing to let that one go, no matter how big an ass he'd been. She at least had the good grace to look guilty.

"I'm sorry." she said again and he wondered which breech of contact she was apologizing for.

"I think that's enough training for today." she nodded, still chewing on the inside of her lip.

"I'll see you at the range at six?" Sandor nodded and started gathering up equipment while she and Ned left, Tilman following behind. Sandor would finish picking up and showering before meeting Ned back at the main house to leave for work . As he cleaned the equipment and put it back up he was keenly aware of Bran watching him move. When he was finished he grabbed an cold pack and activated it before sitting in the chair next to Bran's.

"Your lip okay?" he asked and Sandor grunted, putting the cold pack to his lip.

"It'll heal."

"Probably didn't hurt as bad as the knee she landed the other day." Sandor glanced up at the boy, his too wise eyes watching him. Fucking Robb and Jon. Of course they told him.

"Your brothers bloody well can't keep their snouts shut, can they?" Bran shrugged, non pulsed.

"They only told me, so don't worry Mr. Clegane, father doesn't know." He cocked his head to the side before speaking again. "I can't imagine Sansa doing that unprovoked."

"So your brothers didn't fill you in on all the details, then?" Sandor barked a laugh.

"No, but you'd be surprised by what I already know." Sandor froze for a moment, eyeing the boy. He had no doubt what so ever that this boy knew far more then he'd ever let on.

"I said something pretty mean to her."

"So she racked you?" Sandor shrugged and Bran chuckled. "Sansa is a sweet girl, wears her heart on her sleeve, but she has the wolf inside of her. Maybe more so then the rest of us." Sandor nodded in agreement.

"But that doesn't mean kicking you like that was warranted."

"When a dog bites he expects his master to kick." Bran chuckled as he turned his chair so it faced Sandor more. When Sandor looked over at him the boy was completely serious again.

"You are a hard man to figure out, Mr. Clegane." Sandor felt his mouth twitch a little. He was willing to bet Bran had figured him out long ago. "I'll give you one thing. You were able to provoke more of an emotional response from Sansa then anyone else ever has." he spun his chair around started towards the door before stopping. Without turning around he said,

"If you hurt her again, Sandor, I'll make sure you feel every ounce of her pain." with that he left. Sandor repressed a shiver that came with the chill that whipped up his spine. Of all the threats he'd received from her other brothers and her sister, Bran's put far more fear into him then any of the others.

The rest of his workday went by in a rush of business meetings he pretended to not be listening to. In reality, details, especially those concerning him or the ones he was entrusted to care for, were something he more or less subconsciously absorbed. Ned's day ran late, which meant Sandor's day ran late and he had to call and cancel the weapons training with Sansa. Once he'd gotten Ned back to the mansion and had changed, he sat on his bike thinking long and hard about something he wanted to do.

****

Going back to school put a nervous feeling in her belly at first, but as the days went by and nothing unusual happened, she started to feel more at ease.

Not so at ease when it came to Sandor Clegane, however.

She winced at the memory of his bloody lip and the guilt that had rushed through her. There was actually a lot of things she felt guilty for, but that one was the freshest in her mind so it was the one she dwelled on while having lunch at the new upscale café with Margaery and her brother Loras. And, of course, Tilman sitting a table away acting like he didn't know her at all.

"What has you so distracted, pretty girl?" Marg broke into her thoughts and Sansa looked across the table and gave her a smile.

"Just a lot going on with school is all."

"I'd say there was a boy on your mind." Loras grinned and gave her a wink. Sansa couldn't help the giggle that spilled from her. Sandor was so far from a boy it was humorous.

"Oh my Gods, he's right!" Marg bounced in her seat and excitedly slapped her brothers shoulder. Loras just grinned.

"Who is it?" Marg leaned across the table with her eyes shinning. "Is it my brother?" she smiled broader and glanced over Sansa's shoulder. "Or maybe that super cute guy that's sitting behind you? The one who keeps eyeing you." Sansa fought the urge to turn and face Tilman. Of course he was eyeing her, he was paid to watch her. Although, Sansa did guess he was an attractive man. Not nearly big enough or gruff enough. There wasn't a single thing about Tilman that sent her heart fluttering like Sandor did. And she had somehow messed up things with him.

"Alright." Sansa relented. "It's a _man_ ," she eyed Loras as she put an extra emphasis on the word. "but it's not either of your brothers or the man behind me."

"Who?" Both Tyrell siblings asked at the same time. That was the thing about the Tyrell's. They loved their gossip. Sansa shook her head but felt her cheeks heat.

"I shouldn't be talking about this." she said in a low voice, which just made Loras look all the more interested and Marg furrowed her pretty brow. A second later her mouth popped open and her eyes went wide.

"You have got to be kidding me!" she nearly squealed and Sansa quickly shushed her. Marg put her hand over her mouth and looked from Sansa to Loras and back. Leaning forward she whispered excitedly. "It isn't a certain body guard with a horrible face but a beautiful body that has a penchant for dance clubs, is it?" Sansa closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Margaery, please." she sighed, trying to sound exasperated. "This has nothing to do with that night." and it didn't, not really.

"I'm so totally in over my head right now." Loras chuckled and took a drink of his peach tea.

"It doesn't?" Marg ignored her brother. Sansa forced herself to meet her friends eyes. She'd already messed up enough when it came to Sandor. There was no way she was letting this girl, with her overactive mouth and love of gossip, know anything about what had happened.

"No. It's...it's someone else. But I think I've messed it up."

"How, beautiful girl, could you mess up anything?" Sansa fought the urge to roll her eyes and gave Marg a very vague and detail free accounting of what happened.

"So you kicked this guy in the balls?" Loras winced a little and shifted in his seat.

"Yeah." Sansa laughed a little, then groaned.

"Sansa Stark!" Margaery shook her head with a grin.

"You shouldn't kick a man in the balls, Sansa." Loras scolded her.

"But he hurt me!" Sansa countered, uncaring that she sounded petulant.

"I understand that." Loras touched her hand. "But did it make you feel better when you hurt him?" Sansa looked down at the table and shook her head. No, it hadn't. Not really.

"Sansa, you didn't even talk to him before trying to tell your father." Marg looked a little uncomfortable. "Sorry, deary, but that was a bad move."

"I didn't want to lose him." Sansa almost cried. "And he didn't even care."

"That may be, and he was wrong with how he handled it, but Sansa." Loras shook his head. "you said he apologized."

"He did." Sansa winced a little.

"And did you?" Marg pressed and Sansa looked out the window, feeling about as big as a flea.

"Arya was proud of me.

" "Of course she was." Marg laughed. "She's your sister. She'll always be on your side no matter what. And I'm on your side as well, which means I want you to be happy. And if being happy is with this mystery man, then you need to own up to your side of the problem."

 

Sansa spent the rest of her school day replaying that conversation in her mind. She hadn't apologized to him. She had profusely for the busted lip this morning but hadn't for purposefully hurting him. She planned on doing exactly that during weapons training tonight, but then she'd gotten a text from Sandor saying he was working late with her dad and she'd deflated again.

Going home, she'd sat on the sofa with a glass of wine and watched Netflix while Arya's laughter and Gendry's voice floated down the stairs. She was fixing to head to the kitchen and fix herself something to eat for a late dinner when a knock came at her door. Following proper protocol, she checked the windows first then the peephole and her heart fell into her belly.

Sandor was standing on her front porch, hands shoved in his jeans pockets.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter that my fingers couldn't resist writing! 
> 
> More tomorrow :)

"Have you eaten already?" Sandor asked as soon as the door open and Sansa peaked her head out the small opening. Her wide blue eyes looked around behind him before settling on his face.

"Excuse me?" her fingers clenched rhythmically on the edge of the door.

"Have you ate?" he asked again, trying to not seem nervous. She hesitated a moment before pulling the door more fully open.

"Um, no." her brow furrowed as she angled her head to the side.

"Want to go grab a bite with me?" Her eyes went a little wide and her mouth opened slightly. A long, tense moment passed before she answered.

"Yeah, I'd like that." she pulled the door open fully and motioned for him to come inside. "Let me put on some shoes and grab my purse." as she turned and went into the living room, Sandor glanced up the stairs to find Arya and Gendry both staring down at him. The former with an amused face and the latter with a grin.

"Dog." Arya greeted him with a sneer.

"She-wolf."

"I'm going to eat with Sandor." Sansa announced when she returned. "I'll be home after a while."

"Be safe." Gendry waved them off. Once outside, they both hesitated near her car and his bike.

"I'll just follow you." she said quickly. "Where are we going?"

"I hadn't thought that far." he huffed out a laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. "Wherever you'd like."

"Okay." she thought for a moment. "There's an adorable little diner just down the road." she glanced up at him. "Is that alright?"

"Sure, but I'll follow you." The drive to the diner was only a few minutes. It was a 50s style dining car complete with black and white tile and red Formika tables. Posters and pictures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe covered the walls. They sat down in a booth near the back, Sandor facing the door of course. Neither of them spoke until the waitress had taken their drink and food order.

"How's your lip?" She asked, spinning her water glass around. "Fine, little bird." he resisted reaching across the table and touching her hand. She'd said he couldn't touch her, so he wouldn't until she asked.

"Stop worrying about it." She nodded and swallowed hard, her eyes not quite meeting his. She looked nervous and the way she kept opening and closing her mouth, he figured she wanted to say something. Something he wasn't too sure he wanted to hear.

"Out with it, girl." he finally said.

"I should have said something to you before I started to tell daddy about us." she took a breath through her nose and met his gaze. "I panicked. The thought of not being..." she trailed off and looked out at the dark city. "I should have waited to speak with you first."

"I panicked too." he forced himself to say. "And I shouldn't have said what I said."

"I shouldn't have kneed you." her cheeks turned bright red, but her blue eyes met his again.

"I wish I could say I didn't deserve it." he gave her a grin that she didn't return.

"You didn't." she shook her head. "And I'm sorry. I should have said that earlier. I'm sorry for both of those things. I'm so sorry." Now it was Sandor's turn to look away, not because he didn't believe her but because for the first time in his life, emotions were overwhelming him.

"I hurt you, too Sansa." he ran a hand over his face. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"I should have let you know how I felt, but I...I." she stopped and pressed the heel of one hand to her eye. "I was scared that you wouldn't...that you didn't." she gave a frustrated sigh and stopped talking.

"I should have known how you felt." he rolled his shoulders a little before admitting, "I did know, damn it."

"I still should have said something." she tried to console him.

"So should have I." he groaned. "Damn it, Sansa. I care. About you. I should have agreed to tell your family a long time ago." Sansa laughed and sobbed at the same time, one hand wiping away a stray tear.

"I guess there's a lot we both should and shouldn't have done."

"Guess so." he agreed with a grin, his chest feeling lighter then it had in a long time.

"We could have saved a whole lot of time." Sansa laugh/sobbed again and this time Sandor didn't stop from reaching across the table and taking her small hand in his. She sobbed again before putting her forehead against the back of his hand for a second.

The rest of dinner they talked about everything and nothing. She told him stories of growing up back in her home town and he told her some of the less gruesome stories of his time in the Corps. They basically played twenty questions, covering the basics like their favorite color (hers was purple and his yellow), favorite ice cream (hers was lemon sherbet and his chocolate), all the way up to their best day but they skipped the worst. They already knew each others worst, hers her last night with Joffrey and his the day his face was burnt off. Sandor figured he'd laughed more tonight then he had during his whole life combined. And he'd never seen Sansa laugh so much. They'd finished eating long ago before the waitress finally told them they had to leave because it was closing time. Sandor followed her home and walked her to the front door, checking the perimeter as he did.

"Thank you for dinner." she turned towards him, jangling her keys around in her hand.

"Don't thank me, little bird." she smiled at him then bite the inside of her mouth nervously again.

"Where does this leave us now?"

"It leaves us with a need to have a conversation with your father." he kept his hands securely in his pockets as he spoke. She smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"There's still a lot we need to work out, Sansa." he cautioned her. "But I want something more then just casual with you. I want to spend time with you without hiding it and I for damn sure don't want you seeing other guys."

"I want that, too." her cheeks had to be hurting from how big she was smiling. "And you're not going to see other girls." She said it as a statement and it made him chuckle.

"No one else." he agreed. She looked at his mouth and her lips fell open slightly. Sandor instinctually looked at her mouth too and stepped towards her before reality hit him and he stepped back. Her mouth slammed shut and she looked wounded.

"Sansa, there is a guard parked on the street that I can promise you is watching every fucking move I make." She swallowed hard and looked behind him before nodding. "He'll tell your father that I brought you home tonight but at least he wont be able to say anything physical happened before we get a chance to talk with him."

"When?" she asked softly.

"Tomorrow, when we get off work." he gripped the inside of his pocket so he didn't give in to brushing a strand of hair back that was caught in the breeze. "Be at the mansion."

"I will." she punched the alarm pad and then opened her door. "Tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow." he turned and started down the steps. He made it to the yard before she spoke again.

"Oh, and just so you know, I'm very curious to explore that master comment you made during our last morning together." Before he even had a chance to turn around her door was shutting and he was grinning like a fucking idiot.

He may have just had a new best day ever.

***

Sansa slept better then she had in a very long time, even though she kept waiting for her phone to go off, her father demanding why Sandor had been at her house so late. When she got out of bed the next morning there was a decided bounce in her step, to which Arya rolled her eyes but she did grin a little. She'd left Gendry in her room for about an hour last night to hash things out with Sansa. Margaery was right, Arya would always back her.

Once she was dressed and ready for school, she skipped out the front door before stopping dead, her blood running cold in her veins. She quickly scanned her front yard but seen nothing out of place. Bending slightly, she scrunched up her nose at the dead little red bird that lay next to the single red rose. There was a small note tucked under the stem of the rose. She didn't dare touch any of it but she could make out the lettering.

_Pretty little bird._


	9. Chapter 9

Sandor slammed the smaller mans body against the wall, his fingers tightening around his throat. How easy it would be to snap his neck. How badly he wanted to do it. None of the Stark men stopped him, and Sandor knew they wouldn't be able to before the man drew his last breath. But he would restrain himself from that satisfaction for now. They needed answers and this fucking green boy was the one that could give it to them.

"Where the fuck were you?" Sandor roared. The guard clutched at Sandor's restraining hand on his throat, his eyes wide with panic as he looked beyond the Hound and to the three wolves watching, seemingly begging one of them to help him. Sandor pulled him an inch off the wall before slamming him back into it.

"Answer me!"

"I, I, I was there." he stuttered.

"And you didn't do anything?" this from Ned as he came to stand next to Sandor.

"I didn't see, sir." Sandor thought the man might start crying.

"How could you have not seen?" Ned's voice was deadly calm. "You were charged to watch the house." The mans eyes closed and he opened his mouth to gasp for breath. Sandor's hand was making it difficult to draw in air. Not that he was going to give up his grip.

"The wolf is talking to you, boy." Sandor growled low and the mans eyes flew open to look at Eddard.

"I'd ordered a sandwich and coffee to be delivered to the car." his voice was garbled and Ned gave him the signal to loosen his grip. It took all of Sandor's will power to do as told.

"I ate and drank, but there..." he grabbed Sandor's wrist with both hands and lifted his chin to let out a sob. "there must have been something in the coffee. I don't remember a thing after that until the Baratheon boy was pounding on my window." Sandor had been surprised at Ned's seemingly easy exceptance of the fact that Gendry had obviously spent the night at his daughters house. Either that or he was too worried about what was going on to care. The guard, Dugan was his name, looked back at Sandor for a moment before looking back at Ned.

"Please, sir. I swear it. Someone drugged my coffee."

"Let him go." Ned finally said after a long stretch. Sandor gripped the mans throat tighter, leaned into him to snarl, then released him. Dugan whimpered and slid to the floor.

"Get up." Jon said in mild disgust. Dugan did, leaning into the wall and rubbing his neck.

"I've called Dr. Luwin." Ned told him. "He'll be here soon and draw blood, figure out if and what you were drugged with."

"Yes sir." Dugan nodded.

"I want a full discription of the person that delivered the food. And a full accounting of the entire night." Sandor rubbed his jaw as Dugan shot him a wide eyed look. Sandor grinned. The man was thinking of seeing him come for Sansa and not return until much later.

"Robb, take this mans statement." Ned squeezed his sons shoulder. "Don't miss a single detail."

"Of course, father." Robb nodded, grabbing Dugan's arm and pulling him into Ned's office and closing the door. Ned sighed heavily and sat on the sofa in the solar.

"What does it mean?" he asked outloud without looking up, a hand rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Little bird." Ned's grey eyes flashed up to meet Sandor's. "That's what you call her." there wasn't an ounce of emotion in his voice as he studied Sandor. "You worked for the Lannister's for years." It wasn't a shock to Sandor that he would put those to things together and consider Sandor as the culprit. He'd been expecting actually.

"Aye, sir." Sandor nodded. "And I left their fucking service to save your daughter." Ned showed no reaction to that other then lifting a brow.

"Dugan called last night. Asked if there was something going on he should know about because you'd come and taken Sansa somewhere and brought her back a few hours later." Without looking away from Ned, Sandor seen Jon grin and cross his arms out of the corner of his eye. "Care to explain?"

"I took her to dinner." Sandor held Stark's gaze. It amazed Sandor that the man could be a head shorter then Sandor standing, far more sitting, but still managed to look down on him. This time both Ned's eyebrows shot up.

"I said something a while back that hurt her. I needed to apologize."

"You?" Ned shook his head slightly. "You don't strike me as the type of man to apologize for anything."

"No, sir." Sandor agreed. "Not unless it's important."

"And Sansa is important to you?" Sandor shifted his weight back and forth.

"Aye, sir." he nodded. "Very important." Ned leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees, both hands scrubbing his face. He mumbled something under his breath that Sandor couldn't quite catch.

"I've too much on my mind to worry about this right now." Ned sighed and looked up at Sandor. "How is my daughter important to you? As a duty or as more?"

"More." Sandor didn't hesitate to answer. "I care about her, sir." Ned nodded and stroked his beard stubble for a moment.

"Does she share that emotion?"

"Yes, sir." Sandor supressed a grin. Now Ned stood and faced Sandor, his eyes blazing with seriousness.

"Sansa is my daughter." he started. "My princess. I've messed up once already where it concerned her. A mess I'm still dealing with to this day." Sandor nodded his understanding.

"I trust you, Clegane. And now..." he took a deep breath. Whatever he was fixing to say was obviously not easy for a man like him to say. "Now I'm trusting you to help protect my princess."

"I'll not let anyone hurt her." Sandor assured him. "Not ever again." Ned eyed him for a long time before nodding.

"First Arya and now Sansa." Ned turned to look back at Jon. "Tell me, Jon, is there someone you spent last night with that I should know about?" Ned joked, but as Jon chuckled, he shifted nervously. He obviously had spent last night with someone.

A few hours later, after Robb had finished with Dugan and Dr. Luwin had came and left, Ned called a meeting with the security staff.

"It was an open threat." Robb growled. "She's obviously being watched."

"Why do you say that?" Tilman asked.

"The dead bird." Sandor grumbled. "It's a reference to the nickname I call her. If they left it it's because they know that she and I are...together." Several of the guards exchanged mildly surprised looks, but no one said anything.

"I want security tightened." Ned went on. "Arya and Sansa wont be staying at their condo any longer. They'll be here. Sansa has agreed to forgo school for the time being."

"Why don't we contact the police?" one of the guards asked.

"It was a vague enough threat that nothing will be done. And there is no proof, physically at least, that it was Joffrey or the Lannister's." Robb answered, sounding exhausted and frustrated.

"For now we'll handle this ourselves." Ned pushed in. "And that means I want double the guards on the house. None of the kids or Catelyn leaves this house without at least one guard with them." Ned passed out new scheduales and duty lists before dismissing the other guards, leaving the three Stark's alone with Sandor.

"I think we're missing something here." Robb said.

"Like what?" Ned rubbed his temples.  

"Joffrey knows this place. He's been in this house before."

"And?" Ned went on alert.

"You're thinking we should send her somewhere else?" Jon guessed.

"Just until we can figure out how to nail the slimy little bastard." Robb looked at Sandor. "You have any ideas?" Sandor ran his knuckles along his burn scars, debating.

"Put her in a hotel under a false name. Station a guard with her. One on one. It'll be easier to protect her when there is no other distractions."

"That's a good idea." Ned nodded. "Which hotel? And what guard? Tilman?" Sandor growled before he could surpress it. Jon chuckled and Robb shook his head with a grin.

"You want it to be you?" Ned met him with a level stare. Sandor opened his mouth, planning on telling Ned that he knew he wouldn't be allowed after admitting to having feelings for Sansa, but he'd perfer another guard. One more seasoned. Older. Less pretty boy. But Robb spoke before he could.

"You've said it before, dad." Ned looked away from Sandor to his eldest son. "Clegane knows the Lannister's better then anyone. You obviously trust him more then any of your other guards. And don't you think that him admitting his feelings for Sansa means he cares more about her safety then any of your other guards?"

"He's right, sir." Sandor added. "I know the ins and outs of the Lannister bastards. And I'd gladly rip their throats out for so much as looking at Sansa. But I understand your hesitancy. I was just going to suggest someone with more experiance under their belts then Tilman."

" _You_ are my most experianced guard, Sandor." Ned groaned. "Damn it. First Arya demanding that Waters boy be allowed to come and go and now I'm putting Sansa up in a hotel with her lover."

"Sansa is an adult, dad." Jon reminded him. "And if you can pick another guard that you would feel safer being with her, then go for it." Ned held his place, silently struggling with himself before looking at Sandor and closing the distance between them.

"Listen to me closely, Clegane." he said in a low, deadly voice. "I'm entrusting you to take care of my daughter, someone who means more to me then my own life. If you hurt her, or allow her to be hurt, I don't give a damn how big and bad you might think you are. I will cut you down like the dog others claim you to be."

"I understand, sir. I'd let the boy cunt bugger me with a hot poker before allowing Sansa to be hurt."

****

Sansa stood in the middle of the hotel room, looking around. It wasn't like the hotels she normally stayed in, which were high end luxury hotels, but it was clean if not a little run down. She still couldn't believe this was actually happening, or that her father had actually agreed to let Sandor be the one to stay with her.

She glanced over at where he sat at the table for two near the window, the blinds and curtains both drawn tightly. He was on the phone, talking intently with someone. He still wore his suit pants and dress shirt, although his jacket was draped over the chair and his tie hung out of his pants pocket. 

Her father knew about them, and her mother and sibblings. And they were together again. She just hoped that the second full sized bed didn't get any use.

Sandor got off the phone and opened his laptop. While it started up, he stood and removed his shoulder harness, pulling the pistol out to set it on the table next to him.

"Everything alright?" She asked, moving to sit in the chair across from him.

"Dugan's blood work came back. He had high levels of a hypnotic in his system."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he was drugged." Sandor began hitting buttons on the laptop. "Your brother is sending me the footage from the security cameras from last night."

"So they seen who left those things on the porch?"

"No." he grunted. "There was a disturbance in the feed. Someone hacked the system and scrambled the cameras during that time. There is, however, footage of the delivery of Dugan's food." he focused back on the computer and hit a few more buttons. Sansa angled her head to the side so she could see the screen. It was dark and the car where Dugan sat was at quite a distance from the cameras, but she could see a car pull up just out of camera range, it's headlights visable. Dugan rolled his window down as a man walked up to the side of his car.

"Son of a bitch." Sandor hits the pause button, the clicks the zoom a few times.

"What is it?" Sansa asks, shifting so she can see the screen better. All she can make out is the back of a broad man with short legs and a bald head.

"I know him." Sandor growls, picking up his phone.

"How can you tell?" Sansa asks, looking harder at the screen. It's fuzzy and hard to make anything out.

"The way he carries himself. The way he moves." whoever Sandor is calling must pick up. "It's Boros Blount. A Lannister guard." a pause. "Yes, I'm bloody fucking sure." another pause. "Yeah. Get back with me." he hangs up and sits his phone down.

"Who's Boros Blount?"

"One of Cersei's croonies." he runs a hand over his mouth then looks at Sansa for the first time since they arrived at the hotel. "You okay?" Sansa smiles at him.

"I will be." he pushes his chair back and motions her over to him with a jerk of his head, one hand patting his lap. Sansa's smile widens as she moves to sit in his lap. His arms wrap around her waist as hers wrap around his, her head burrowing into the crook of his neck. He burries his face into her hair and inhales deeply.

"Gods, I've missed you, little bird." Sansa tightens her arms around him and smiles into his chest.

"I've missed you." she says softly. Sandor releases her waist with one arm, only to hook it under her knees and stand with her. She readjusts her hold to around his neck as he carries her to the bed and lays them down together, each on their sides so they can face each other.

"Do you not have work I'm taking you away from?" she asks before his mouth reaches hers. She wants this more then anything, to feel the closeness that she's been missing with him, but she doesn't want him to get in trouble.

"You are my work, Sansa Stark." he kisses her nose. "Keeping you safe. And you are safe as long as you're with me." This time Sansa doesn't stop him when he moves in to kiss her. She accepts it, opening her mouth slightly to allow him to deepen it. His hand smooths down her side to rest on the curve of her hip while the other cups her cheek. Other then that, he didn't touch her any more. Sansa wiggled to get closer to him, her skin and nerve endings screaming for his touch. Running her hands up his torso and chest, she starts undoing his shirt buttons, hoping he'll get the picture. When she has it all the way undone, Sandor lifts a little without releasing her mouth and helps her to get the shirt off all the way. Running her finger tips down his torso, trailing across the ripples and dips of his muscles, tangling lightly in the dark hair there. His stomach tenses under her touch when she moves below his navel, her fingers resting on the waistband of his slacks.

"Sandor." Sansa pulls her mouth away from his so she can take a breath. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, his thumb rubbing her cheekbone. "Why aren't you.." she can feel her face heat. "um, touching me?"

"You want me to?" He asks it so seriously but Sansa can't help but laugh.

"Of course I do, Sandor." To enforce her statement, she sits up next to him and pulls her shirt off over her head. Going up on one elbow, his dark gaze watches her as she reaches behind her to unhook her bra. With rapt attention, he follows the fabric as it slides off her shoulders before she flicks it somewhere to the floor. Scooting closer to her, still on his side, he hooks an arm around her waist and leans up to lave his tongue up the valley between her breasts. When he nibbles her collarbone, Sansa gasps and tangles her fingers into his hair. One arm holding his torso up, he lets the other trail up her waist before framing one of her breasts, plumping the small mound up as his tongue trails down the swell. Looking down at him on her chest, his eyes flick up to hers at the same time he sucks her nipple into his mouth. Sensation like white hot lightening shoots from that point throughout her whole body, making her achy and tense.

"Yes." her voice whooshes out on a breath, her head falling back. He releases her only to travel over to the other breast and do the same. Moving much like a large cat, he crawls over her body, forcing her to lay down as his big body covers hers.

"Let's get rid of these." his fingers go to the snap of her pants as his tongue swirls around the shallow dip of her belly button. She giggles at the tickling sensation and tries to roll to her side. He stops her with a hand on her hip as his teeth nip her skin.

"Ticklish?" he asks, sitting up enough to pull her pants down her legs.

"A little." she admits. "But don't stop, please."

"No." his voice lowers as he takes in her nearly naked form under him, large hands running up her thighs to grip her panties. "No stopping." Pulling them off, Sansa expects him to toss them in the direction he'd tossed her pants, but as he leans forward to kiss the inside of her thigh, he shoves them in his pants pocket. She forgets about it when he grabs her knees and pulls her legs apart.

"Gods, look at you Sansa." he runs his thumbs up and down the skin where her thighs meet her center. The indirect stimulation drives her insane. A flush roars up her chest and she squirms under his touch, trying to get his fingers where she wants them.

"So greedy." he grins, then to Sansa's horror, he stands up beside the bed.

"What...?" he grabs her legs, pulling her across the bed so her feet touch the floor, then he pulls her until she standing.

"Trust me?" he asks before kissing her lips.

"Of course, but..." he silences her by shoving his tongue in her mouth. Then he grips her shoulders and turns her around. "Brace your arms on the bed, but keep your arse up." Sansa hesitates for a second, but then does as he asks.

"Like this?" she looks over her shoulder at him, watching as he undoes his pants but doesn't push them off.

"Perfect." he leans down to kiss the small of her back, his hands gripping her cheeks tightly before standing back up. "Close your legs tight." Confused, Sansa does as he asks. He goes to his knees behind her, his hands rubbing up and down the outside of her thighs as his tongue travels between them and touches her center. She jolts at the touch, a little moan escaping her. So distracted by what his tongue is doing to her, she doesnt notice what he's doing to her legs before he's already tightening the tie above her knees.

"What are you doing?" she gasps, trying to pull her legs apart but the fabric of his tie wont let her.

"You'll like it." he stands back up, his hands running up the length of her back and down her shoulders and arms until he reaches her wrists. Leaning in to her, he pulls her hands over her head, then binds her wrists together with her panties that had been in his pocket.

"Sandor." she turns her head so she can see his face.

"It's alright." he kisses the nape of her neck. "I'll take care of you. If you don't like it just say stop and I'll stop." Taking a breath through her nose, she relaxs under his touch and nods her head.

"Good girl." he stands straight again, his hands coming down to rub the globes of her bottom. "You'll be tighter like this, but I'll go slow at first to make sure you're ready." Behind her she can feel him move around a little then his fingers are sliding down the cleft of her bottom until he touches her where she's burning up with want for him, two fingers sliding deep inside of her. Sansa gasps loudly, her hips reflexively pressing back against him.

"Mmm." he growls. "You're ready." he replaces his fingers with the head of his cock. Pushing in just a little, he braces his hands on her hips. Sansa is panting hard, sucking in breath like she's been running a marathon. He's right. She feels so much tighter like this and the tie around her thighs wont let her widen her stance anymore. At first she'd been scared this would bring back memories of being tied down to Joffrey's bed, but nothing about what Sandor was doing could call to memory that night. He moved slowly, like he'd promised, making sure he didn't hurt her.

"Fuck." he groaned when his hips pressed against her bottom, letting her know he was fully inside of her. "You okay?"

"Yes." she panted, moving her hips against him.

"Good, because I need to move." and he did, pulling out slowly before pressing back in gently. "Shit, Sansa. I want to go hard." she could actually feel him trembling. "Tell me it's okay. Tell me you're ready."

"Yes, please." she groaned as he pulled back out slowly, holding just the tip inside of her. "Please, Sandor."

"Always so fucking courteous." he chuckled. Letting go of her hip with one hand, he wraps it around her mound, squeezing her clit together with her outer folds. The sensation is jolting and she loves it, how his big hand completely covers her, squeezing her from all sides so every bit of her is feeling him. Then he slams back inside of her while still rolling her in his hand. It's too much, but so good. Her hands fist the bedclothes in her fingers as she cries out at the feeling of him filling her over and over again.

"Gods, Sansa." he groans loudly as he continues to pump inside of her. "I can feel every fucking inch of you like this." his voice was broken and uneven with the effort to keep his hard, fast pace.

"Every little ripple." he continued to pant. "Every muscle clenching." he growled low in his throat. "I want to feel you come. Can you do that? I need you to do it fast."

"Yes, yes." she wasn't even sure her words were coherent. "So close." and she was. Between his hand massaging her center from all sides, him thrusting so heavily inside of her, and his lust deepened voice she was hanging off the edge.

"Good." his hand moved from her hip to rest on one of her cheeks. "I'm going to smack your arse and I want you to come on me then." Sansa squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered with the effort to hold back until he did as he said. He said it would be fast but it felt like forever before she finally felt the wonderful sting of his palm on her bottom and she came in a rush, her world fading away and leaving only pleasure so intense she wasn't so sure she would come back down. She did, of course, not that she thought one could survive that intense of pleasure for long durations.

Behind her Sandor slammed in deep, heat filling her womb as he gave a few more thrusts without ever really pulling out, just shoving against her.

"Fu.Uk." Sandor collapsed on top of her, just managing to catch his weight on his forearms braced alongside her head. Sansa smiled at how he elongated the word into two. Half a second later he was lifting off of her and pulling out, letting his fingers trace the line of her spine and causing Sansa to shiver, her nerve endings all super sensitive at the moment. Sandor chuckled, his hands deftly undoing the tie around her thighs and freeing her before rolling her onto her back and pulling her hands to her belly, quickly releasing her wrists from her own underwear. Looking down at him, Sansa started laughing. He hadn't even fully removed his pants or boxer briefs. Sandor followed her line of sight to his now slightly limp length hanging out of the zipper of his pants.

"Hush, girl." he shucked the pants and underwear. "You get me in a hurry." Grabbing her under her arms, he lifted her to the pillows and crawled in between her legs, pushing them further apart so he could kneel between her thighs.

"You've no idea how gorgeous you are." he said softly, almost reverently. Sansa blushed as his eyes took in her naked body at his leisure, lingering between her thighs. His sharp cheek bones took on a darker shade and his mouth opened on a pant.

"Fucking perfect." his thumbs touched her outer lips, rubbing small circles. She glanced down to see where he was touching her and her blush deepened. His hands looked so large next to her slim thighs, so dark compared to the paleness of her flesh. The dark red curls at the top of her mound were matted and wet, and although she couldn't see it, she could feel his release slowly slipping out of her.

"Sandor." she whispered his name, caught between arousal and mortification.

"Let me clean you up." he jumped off the bed and went into the small connected bathroom. A few seconds later he came back with a warm wash cloth. After gently cleaning her up, then himself, he tossed the rag and got back into bed with her. He sat up against the headboard and grabbed the remote off the bedside table. Sansa lifted herself to curl against his side, pulling the blanket up over her nakedness.

For the rest of the evening, they stayed like that, watching cheesy syfy movies and eating a prepacked dinner in bed, still naked. Sansa had never felt so at ease, or so content. As it grew later and they'd snuggled down into the pillows she found herself wondering if this was just the calm before the storm.


	10. Chapter 10

Four days had passed since they'd been stuck in the hotel and Sansa was starting to go a little stir crazy. She wasn't allowed to leave the room at all, and Sandor only did rarely, promising her the hotel was being watched and she was safe. She knew he was going crazy as well. Sandor wasn't an idle man. They managed to fill their time, though, spending hours every day going over self defense moves or his detailed instruction on how to take apart her Glock and clean it properly. And, of course, they spent plenty of time reacquainting themselves with each others bodies. But it was the moments in between that Sansa enjoyed the most. He was softer after they'd made love, less harsh and easier to get to talk. He was finally opening up to her about his childhood, about how he'd lost both his mother and sister to what he suspected was his brothers wicked hands. His father as well. It made Sansa's chest ache to realize just how alone he'd been in life. And how much she loved her own family.

A family she wasnt allowed to have contact with, just in case her phone or theirs was somehow being watched. She didn't even have a phone so she wasn't able to speak with anyone other then Sandor. It was the evening of the fourth night when Sandor's phone rang. Sansa could tell by the way his whole body went tense that the voice on the other end had surprised him.

"Give me a second." he snapped into the phone before lowering it from his head and covering the mouth piece. "I need to take this." before Sansa could say anything, Sandor went out the door and closed it behind him. Curious at his odd behavior, Sansa tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear against his, trying to hear his side of the conversation. The thick wood made it difficult, but she caught the occasional word or sentence, none of which really made much sense. When she heard him slide the key card back into the door, she bolted to the bed and lay down, trying to seem like she'd been there the whole time. Sandor looked at her suspesiously but didn't comment.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah." he moved to the table and started putting his shoulder harness on. So he was leaving. For some reason, that made Sansa's stomach uneasy.

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked.

"I need to go out for a bit." he didn't meet her eyes as he pulled on his jacket. "I'll be back soon. Keep the door locked and your weapon nearby. Don't let anyone in." with that, he left.

An hour passed and he still wasn't back. Sansa was starting to get worried because he'd never left her alone this long before. She'd heard him say something about McCann's bar on the phone. He was probably there, but she didn't have the number to his burner phone to call him.

 _Well, bugger this_. She thought. She wasn't going to just sit in this damn hotel room waiting on him to return when he might not. Not when cold dread was weighing her belly down. Using the hotel phone, she called for a cab then sat down to pull on shoes. Grabbing a room key and shoving her Glock in her purse, she left the room. She'd told the cabbie to pick her up in the back parking lot, so when she got to the lobby, she went down the back hall to the exit door at the rear. Looking out the glass, she waited until she seen the cab pull up under the one street lamp. Pushing the door open, she started to jog across the lot but was stopped short when a hand clamped around her upper arm. She screamed and turned, ready to land a punch to whomever was holding onto her but they quickly released her, stepping out of reach.

"Easy, Sansa." it was Tilman.

"What the heck, Tilman?" Sansa clutched her chest over her racing heart. "You scared me."

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, looking from her to the cab and back.

"Sandor's been gone a long time." she sighed. "He had an odd phone call. Said something about a bar downtown. I think he might be in trouble."

"So you were just going to go after him by yourself?" Tilman asked in disbelief. Sansa winced a little and shrugged. "Sandor is a highly capable man, I don't think he needs help. And if he does, you should have called someone."

"I don't have a way to call anyone." she countered.

"Well, I do." he went to the cabbie and tossed him some money before coming back to Sansa.

"Come on." he put a hand between her shoulders and pushed her back towards the hotel. "I'll call your dad, but you need to get back to your room for now." following close behind her, Tilman propelled her towards the door. Reaching around her, he pulled it open for her. Just as Sansa was starting to step inside, running footsteps came from behind them and then the door was being kicked shut. Hard. The force jerked Tilman forward and Sansa stumbled back. Tilman cursed loudly, but turned so fast he was nothing but a blur to Sansa's panicked eyes. Spinning around, Sansa found three men with their faces hidden behind ski masks. One was tall and hugely built, another short but stalky, and yet another was tall and slender.

Faces hidden or not, Sansa knew in that moment the slender man was Joffrey. She could feel it in her bones and her heart dropped into her belly.

Tilman didn't pause before launching into an attack, but Sansa could see that his arm hung oddly at his side. The masked man she knew was Joffrey moved to the side as the other two countered Tilman's efforts. He threw punches and launched kicks, absorbing a few blows while blocking most. Despite his obviously injured arm, he was handling himself perfectly. He even seemed to be grinning as he landed a perfectly placed blow to one mans jaw. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, Robb stepped out of the shadows.

"Boys." Robb greeted them with a wide grin. The two masked men tried to scatter, but her brother was faster. The shorter of the two went down hard when Robb slammed his fist against the side of his head. Tilman landed a kick to the taller mans solar plexus, sending him to the ground. The other man, the one that Sansa knew was Joffrey, staggered slightly, frantically looking at the two men on the ground before looking at Sansa with a rage that she could feel pulsing through the air between them.

"Don't you fucking think about running." Robb pointed a finger at him. "I don't feel like chasing your ass down." Tilman pulled the mask off the man he'd taken down. He seemed vaguelly familiar to Sansa as a guard from the Lannister's house although she didn't know his name. Robb pulled the mask off the other man, revealing his bald head and ugly face. Sansa thought this was the man from the video from her house.

"You know them?" Robb asked her. Sansa looked from one man to the other.

"Yes." she finally answered. "They work for the Lannister's." Tilman stood straighter, pointing a finger from his good arm at the last man.

"I've got an inkling who this one may be."

"Yeah." Robb took a step closer to him and the man took a step back. "Don't kill him just yet. Sandor has other plans." Robb told Tilman.

 _Sandor?_ Sansa was hardly keeping up she was so confused.

Knowing he didn't stand a chance against Robb or Tilman, he let out a enraged roar and lunged towards Sansa. Taken off guard, Sansa tried to step away from him but stumbled and fell, dropping her purse as she went down. He wrapped an arm around her and jerked her back to her feet. Sansa tried to scream, but he squeezed her throat, pulling her body back against his front. Fear immoblized her. She couldn't think of a single part of her training. Nothing would come. This was Joffrey, she could feel it. She knew it deep down. And he had her again. She clutched at his hold on her, trying to suck in a panicked breath. Through her fear clouded vision, she seen Robb take a few steps to one side of her, Tilman the other way. What where they doing? Why weren't they helping her?

"Easy now." Sansa gasped at the new voice. It's deep, rasping tone sank straight inside of her and helped calm the fear raging inside of her.

"Sandor?" she whispered.

"That's right, little bird." Sandor walked up, a sneer on his face as he glared behind her at Joffrey. "Joffrey isn't going to hurt you. You're not going to let him."

"Oh, yes I am." Joffrey squeeled, jerking his mask off now that he knew his cover was blown. "Back off, dog."

"Fuck you." Sandor shot back, not making another move. Then, out of the shadows came Jon and her father, all of them surrounding Joffrey, letting her know they were there to protect her. Joffrey whimpered a little in the back of his throat, but when he lifted his free arm she seen the knife flash and her stomach knotted in fear.

"I'll cut her." Joffrey warned in a high voice. "Scar her pretty little body to match your face, hound." he started walking backwards, dragging her along with him. All the men followed them, but she knew at that moment they weren't going to make a move. They were wanting her to. They expected her to. And she could. Now that she seen her family there, that she could see Sandor's face, the fear wasn't so immobilizing and her training was slowly coming back into her mind.

"Don't worry, Sansa." Sandor held her gaze. "He's nothing. A little cunt. One that you can take. I know you can. _You_ know you can." And just like that, everything became clear. Sansa stopped struggling against his hold and let her body weight drop forward. Unlike Sandor had, Joffrey actually stumbled forward with her, loosing his balance. Using the advantage, she thrust an elbow back into his ribs, then spun free of his grasp. Now free, Sansa turned to face a bent over Joffrey. She bounced a little in place.

"Did you hear that?" she asked him. "I can take you."

"This is a fucking joke." he spat, standing up straight again, but she could see the fear in his eyes.

"Not a joke." Sansa started to circle him and when his eyes followed her she made a quick kick to his wrist, sending the knife flying away. Jon quickly picked it up. Joffrey cried out and grabbed his wrist.

"You little wench!" he screamed, lunging for her, blinded by rage. Sansa used his forward motion to her advantage, she drove her knee into his groin. When he doubled over in pain, she lifted her knee again, this time into his chin. Then once again before letting him go. He fell to the ground with a garbled cry.

"Done yet, little bird?" she could hear the smile in Sandor's tone. She turned to look at him since Joffrey wasn't moving much anymore and seen the look of pride shinning in his dark gaze.

"Thank you." she whispered, suddenly feeling like she was going to cry for some reason. A grin kicked up a corner of his mouth.

"Anytime." Turning back to Joffrey, she walked in a circle around him.

"Get up, Joff." she ordered him. "Or I'll kick you in the ribs while you lay there."

"You're crazy, bitch." he groaned.

"No." Sansa shook her head. "I'm angry. There's a difference. Are you just going to lay there, or are you going to try and defend yourself?"

"If I had my knife..."

"I'd just take it from you and break it off in your arm."

"Gods, what have you done to her, Clegane?" she heard Robb laugh.

"I've got your knife, Joffy." Jon said. "Want me to give it to her?" Joffrey whimpered loudly, curling in on himself.

"No." he cried. All the men laughed and it hit her then that they thought of him as a joke. And now, for the first time, so did she. Arya had been right. He wasn't the monster she'd built up in her nightmares. He was just a man, or less really. Weak and cowardly. She didn't realize she was outwardly crying until she felt strong arms band around her shoulders, pulling her into a warm solid chest. She turned her face into his shirt and breathed him in.

"You're fucking amazing." he said against the crown of her head. Pulling back, Sansa looked up at him, then around at the other men there.

"How?" she shook her head. "Why are you all here? How did you know?" she looked back at Sandor. "I thought you went to McCann's."

"I did." he brushed a hand along her hair. "I got a phone call. Tyrion Lannister wanted to speak with me. He knew what was happening. As soon as I figured it out, I called your father. Told him to meet us here."

"Great show, sister." Robb came up then and slapped her shoulder playfully.

"Damn good." Jon agreed. "Almost better then watching you rack Clegane."

"Sansa." her father pushed both her brothers away and wrapped her up in a bear hug. Sansa squeezed him back just as hard. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you, daddy."

"You know, for a badass, you're a pansy when it comes to the cold." Tilman's voice preceded a jacket being dropped around her shoulders. It was only then did she realize just how hard she was shaking.

"Oh, Gods, Tilman." she turned away from her father to face the young guard. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Your arm." she pointed to the limb that hung limply at his side and he looked at it as if just realizing it was there.

"Well son of a bitch." he gingerly touched the offended arm. "I guess I didn't let go of that door soon enough."

"Looks dislocated." her dad told him.

"Does it not hurt?" Tilman winced and touched it again.

"Didn't before but now it bloody well hurts like a bastard."

Jon and Robb watched over the men that had been taken out while Ned called for the police, but before his call could go through three squad cars showed up. A female officer, Brienne Tarth, informed them that Jaime Lannister had called them out. Once the police finished talking to them, Robb and Jon left to take Tilman to the emergency room to have his arm looked at.

"What will happen to him now?" Sansa asked as the police loaded Joffrey into the back of a squad car.

"He's going away for a long time." Sandor rubbed a hand up and down her spine. "I'll make damn sure he wont be bothering you again." he said the last part in a low tone, and Sansa knew he'd make sure that happened and probably not with the blessing of law enforcement. But she wasn't going to dwell on that now.

"Tyrion is providing the DA with proof of his fathers corrupt and his involvement with the shooting at the formal, Jaime is going to back him. Tywin will loose his hold on the business, but Tyrion is going to take over. Together he and Jaime will run it."

"Good." Sansa watched as the squad cars drove away.

"Pack your things, Sansa." her father touched her cheek gently. "Lets get you home."

"Actually, daddy, I think I'm going to stay with Sandor tonight." Ned's eyes flashed up to Sandor as a frown pulled at his mouth but he took a deep sigh and met her gaze again.

"When did you manage to grow up?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't know, daddy." she kissed his cheek, then looked back at Sandor. "It doesn't feel like that long ago."

 

Once they'd packed their things and checked out, Sandor followed Ned back to the mansion before driving her to his apartment. Once they were inside, he clicked on the lamp and started undressing her. She caught up quickly, starting to remove his clothes as well as he walked them backwards to the bed. He lay her down, now both completely naked, his mouth meeting hers as his hands traced every dip and curve of her body. Neither of them spoke as his finger tested her readiness before he slowly took her. They held on to each other, rocking together, and she loved him like this, so lost in emotion that he didn't know how to express that he was beyond speaking. He was a physical man, so he showed her with his body what he couldn't tell her with his words. She came a second before he did, and he whispered her name into her hair as he held her closely. And Sansa knew. She loved him. Totally and completely. And she felt safer then she ever had in her life. Sandor, so strong and protective, would care for her heart and make sure it was never hurt. And she made a silent promise to him that she would protect and keep him safe as well, and love him so fully that he would never again be able to question his worth as a man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there is only going to be one more chapter after this. I'll be sure and make it good for you guys ;)
> 
> I borrowed pretty heavily from Lori Foster's Simon Says for the fight scene. You should check that book out! Pretty good and very steamy :)


	11. Chapter 11

**Epilogue**

_One year later._

Sandor hated large gatherings almost as much as he hated wearing a tux. Having to do both at once was pretty fucking miserable. Why had he even agreed to this shit? He couldn't count how many times he'd asked himself that question over the last few hours. He still couldn't come up with an answer. 

Then music started playing at the crowd quieted. Sandor looked down the aisle and watched as Sansa made her way down, looking fucking gorgeous in her dress with her hair swept up, leaving her long neck bare. _Oh, yeah_. That's why he was dealing with this shit. For her. Over the last year it became fairly evident to him and anyone paying any sort of attention that he would do damn near anything for his little bird.

The rest of wedding party made their way down the aisle and into place and the ceremony started, not that Sandor paid a lick of attention to any of it. He was too busy figuring out a way to get that dress off of Sansa's body. The wedding was being held in an outdoor venue and the reception would take place just as the sun went down. But there were was a big fancy barn that had to have some sort of privacy in it. He could take her there, strip her out of that dress, or maybe not. Maybe he'd just push the skirt up over her hips and take her like that.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." the preachers words broke into Sandor's rather vivid daydream. "You may kiss the bride." Applause broke out and Sandor looked over at Sansa. She was clapping harder then almost anyone else, tears sheening her pretty blue eyes as her oldest brother dipped his brand new wife and kissed her thoroughly. Sandor grinned and shook his head a little. No matter the shit that girl had gone through in life, she was still a hopeless romantic.

How the hell did he end up with someone like her?

After Robb was able to tear his mouth away from his wife's, Jeyne Westerling now Stark, they made their way back down the aisle. After Jon, Bran, and Rickon all met their respective bridesmaids and followed, Sandor was finally able to take Sansa's arm in his and lead her with the rest of the wedding party.

"You look good in blue." he told her as they took their seats at the head table.

"It's teal." she corrected him, like he knew what the fuck teal was. "And you look handsome in your tux." she tugged playfully at his lapel and he narrowed his eyes at her. Never in his entire life had Sandor ever looked handsome, and he wasn't inclined to believe it now. But he did believe she thought so, for whatever fucking reason. In the last year their relationship had changed hardly at all, but was also completely different. He still worked for her father as head of his security team. She was now in her final year of college with a perspective job already lined up. She was smart like that, graduating ahead of where she should with a job at a private school as their English teacher.

Oh, and together they taught a self defense class on Sunday evenings.

Joffrey had spent less then three months in prison before his body had been found in the back kitchens, beaten, broken, and lifeless. The cameras in that area had somehow malfunctioned and there were still no leads on who could have done it.

Did Sandor mention that one of his oldest and closest Marine buddies was the head of the guard at that prison? No? Well, he didn't know what had happened that night, either. And that was a story both of them were sticking to.

He and Sansa had moved in with each other about six months back. A small house on the outskirts of town, close to her parents. Ned still wasn't overly excited about his daughters choice in partner, but he was coming to grips with it. Sandor had a feeling it was Catelyn who was urging him to accept it. The woman damn near worshiped the ground Sandor walked on after he'd saved Sansa, even though he'd told her repeatedly that Sansa had saved herself.

Sansa, for her own part, had grown and changed. She was still the sweet, somehow still innocent, caring little bird he'd originally taken notice of but now there was something different. Something more. She was more sure of herself, strong in ways only a woman can be, and damned if she didn't meet his heated passion when they hit the sheets.

"Dance with me?" she stood up and held out a hand to him. Sandor scowled at it.

"I don't dance, little bird." he picked up his flute and downed the champagne. Now he needed a beer.

"Come on, Sandor." she pleaded. "You're part of the wedding party. You have to dance."

"Didn't bloody ask to be." he mumbled, but in reality it had meant a lot to Sandor that Robb had asked him to be a groomsmen. Not that he was telling anyone that.

"No, but you are." she grabbed his hand and pulled, like she really had the strength to lift him off the chair. "Please, Sandor." her bottom lip pouted out appealingly and all Sandor could think of was sucking it into his mouth and biting it.

"Go dance with your lady, dog." Arya punched him in the shoulder as she walked by them, Gendry close behind her. This time he let Sansa pull him from the chair and lead him to the dance floor that had been sat up under ropes of lights.

"Don't know how to do this." he told her as she stood in front of him.

"Here." she placed one of his hands on the flare of her waist and took the other and held it in hers. Putting her other hand on his shoulder, she started swaying them to the soft beat of the music. They didn't do much else. No advanced moves or spins or dips, just held each other and mostly shifted back and forth.

"Thank you, Sandor." she lifted her head from his chest when the song ended and he kissed her forehead.

"Of course." he put his chin on top of her head for a second.

"I love you." she whispered into his neck. It wasn't the first time she had said it, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Honestly, he liked hearing her say it. But he hadn't ever said it back to her. Not that he didn't love her, it just wasn't an emotion he knew how to express to her. Words didn't come easily to him, especially those three words. He'd never said them before, to anyone that he could remember. And no one had ever said them to him before her. The first few times she'd said it, he felt his chest constrict with something close to panic, but she assured him that he would never have to say anything in return. She knew how he felt and that was enough for her. Now a days, he simply accepted the words with a smile.

"Aye, little bird." The music stopped playing for a bit as the bride and groom cut the cake, Robb being the gentleman and lovingly giving her a small bite, Jeyne being the one to shove his piece into his face. That was followed by toasts and then Jeyne gathered all the unmarried women onto the floor for the bouquet toss. Sandor stood with Jon and Gendry, watching as Jeyne tossed the bundle of flowers over her head. Sandor half expected Sansa to take a few girls out trying to get it, but to his surprise she shoved Arya forward, towards the flowers and the younger girl instinctually caught them as they hit her chest. Sandor burst out laughing at the horrified look on Arya's face. Sansa laughed as well, bouncing up and down and clapping.

"Looks like your next, Stag." Sandor clapped Gendry on the shoulder. The younger man just smiled and shrugged. After all the formalities were over and Sansa had danced with each of her brothers and her father, she returned to sit next to his side, her cheeks flushed with happiness and drink.

"What a lovely evening." she sighed, leaning into his side. "Robb and Jeyne look so happy." Sandor glanced out at the dance floor where Robb was dancing with his wife, both of them grinning like fools.

"Aye." Sandor agreed.

"I'm tired." she angled her head up to look at him. "Want to head home?"

"Sure." he traced her cheekbone with his thumb. Half an hour later, after they'd said all the goodbyes, they walked out to her car holding hands, her heels in his free hand.

"Wait up!" a familiar voice came from behind them and Sandor pulled Sansa to a stop, turning to watch Tyrion hobbling after them.

"Tyrion!" Sansa let go of Sandor's hand and met the dwarf half way, bending down to hug him. "I didn't know you were here." Over the last year, Sansa and Tyrion had become something close to friends. He had, after all, helped save her from Joffrey and was instrumental in taking down Tywin.

"Oh, yes. Your brother invited both Jaime and I." he looked up at Sandor as he approached. "Clegane."

"Lannister." Sandor nodded to him.

"Is Jaime here as well, then?" Sansa looked beyond him.

"No, no. Jaime hasn't felt quite...comfortable in large gatherings since his accident." The older Lannister had lost his hand after a fight had broken out a few months back. The details were still vague, and all Sandor knew was that he'd been with that big blonde cop lady that had shown up the night Joffrey attacked Sansa.

"Of course." Sansa said in understanding. "I'm glad you could make it."

"And I'm glad to see you here, and looking so happy."

"Yes, Mr. Lannister." Sansa took Sandor's hand. "Very happy."

"It was a lovely ceremony." the dwarf shot Sandor a mischievous grin. "Will yours be this large or will you be going for a more intimate party?"

"Oh." Sansa let out a surprised giggle. "No. Sandor and I aren't...well, what I mean is that we..."

"Clegane!" Tyrion gasped in mock horror. "You mean to tell me you haven't put a ring on this lovely girls finger yet? Why, whatever are you waiting for? Don't tell me you think something better may be coming." Sandor growled and narrowed his eyes at the little imp.

"None of your damn business, Lannister." That had Tyrion laughing.

"Of course it isn't." he turned back to Sansa. "Sorry for delaying your departure. I couldn't let you leave without saying goodbye."

"I'm glad you did." Sansa knelt again and hugged him.

"Don't be a fool for too long." Tyrion said, offering Sandor a hand, which he took a little roughly. Again, Tyrion just laughed. Hooking Sansa's waist with his arm, Sandor led her to the car. The drive home was made in relative silence and Sandor got the feeling that what the Lannister dwarf had said was weighing on her.

Fucking Imp.

Once they were home, he followed Sansa to the bedroom where she slipped out of her dress and into a silk robe before sitting at her vanity and taking her hair down.

"Did you have fun tonight?" he asked, removing his dress shirt and tossing it onto the chair with his tie and jacket.

"I did." she smiled at him in the mirror as she pulled a brush through her hair. Leaving on his white undershirt, he kicked his shoes off and removed his slacks and socks. "Jeyne looked beautiful."

Sandor walked up to stand behind her, rubbing her shoulders gently. "You looked beautiful." he kissed to the top of her head and she laughed softly. "Stand up."

She held his gaze in the mirror for a second before setting her brush down and standing to face him. Tugging on the belt of her robe until it was undone, he pulled the silk length free and tossed it over his shoulder before pushing the robe off her shoulders. It slid off her body and pooled at her feet on the floor, leaving her in a lacy blue, or _teal_ , strapless bra and matching panties.

"Move to the bed and kneel." he took a step back to allow her to move.

"Are we playing now?" she asked, her cheeks tinging red. That was another thing that had changed over the last year. Sandor liked being dominant in the bedroom and he had slowly worked her into his games. They didn't do it every time, sometimes he liked just plain old sex or when she took charge, but it was nice knowing she was willing when he wanted.

"Not if you don't want to." he assured her.

"I always want to." she grinned. Yeah, she liked it just as much as he did.

"Good." he leaned forward and kissed her, but broke it before it got too carried away. "Now, move to the bed and kneel." She did as he asked, going to her knees beside the bed and bowing her head. Tossing the robe belt onto the bed, he went to stand in front of her.

"Look at me." She lifted her chin and her eyes met his, sparkling with anticipation. He ran his thumb over the seam of her lips and she let her eyes close for a fleeting second before snapping them back open, remembering he'd told her to look at him.

"Take me out, but don't touch me." he looked down at the bulge in his boxer briefs and so did she. Hooking her fingers under the elastic by his hips, she pulled them down to his ankles, careful not to touch him just yet. "Good. Now take your bra off. I want to see your hard little nipples." She didn't take her eyes off his erection as she unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor.

"What now, Master?" Sandor grinned at the address. She didn't always call him master, or even sir. He wasn't that serious with his games. Usually she just called him by his name, which was fine by him because he loved hearing her moan his name in pleasure. And she would. Now she was still in control of herself, still remembering this was a game and she was playing it with him. Later, when she was lost in her pleasure, there would only be him. Sandor. And he fucking loved it.

"Take me into your mouth." She started to reach for his erection but he caught her wrist. Her eyes flicked up to his in surprise. "I said don't touch me." he let her hand go and touched her lips. "Use nothing but this." She nodded and licked her lips. Dropping his hands to his sides, he took a little step closer to her to make it easier for her to reach him. Lifting up on her knees, she wrapped her lips around the head of his erection then lowered back down to kneeling as she sucked as much of him into her mouth as she could.

"Gods." Sandor cursed under his breath. "That's it." he let her move on him for a little bit longer before he finally reached out and raked his fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face so he could see better. She looked up at him as well and a shiver ran up his spine.

Damn. He loved this girl.

Looking further down her body he seen her fingers clenched tightly into fists, rubbing up and down her thighs in an effort to keep from touching him.

"Put your hand in your panties." he told her. "Touch yourself, but don't come. You're not allowed to come until I'm inside of you." He watched as she did as he asked, her fingers slowly sliding into the waistband of her panties. He knew the moment she touched herself because her eyelids fluttered and she sucked him harder. For the next few minutes he switched back and forth between watching her hand move beneath the lace of her panties and her mouth moving over his hard length. When his balls started to tighten and pressure built up at the base of his spine, he abruptly stepped away from her. She gasped a little and leaned forward with the loss of him in her mouth. She sat there on her knees, looking at him with dazed eyes, her hand still in her panties.

"Get on the bed on your belly." he picked up the length of silk from the bed as she moved onto it with shaky legs. "Grab hold of the headboard." when she did, he looped the silk belt along the slates then bound her hands together. She wiggled a little and pulled against her restraints. Grabbing the globes of her arse, he kneaded the firm flesh and she moaned, grinding her hips into the mattress. He smacked her arse, causing her to yelp, then her hips ground harder into the mattress so he smacked her again, a little harder this time.

"Don't try to get yourself off without me." he warned her, smacking her one last time before pulling her panties down the length of her long, long legs.

"Sorry, Master." she breathed and he slapped her bare arse this time, loving how red her cheeks turned.

"Don't apologize to me." he smoothed his hands over the red marks on her skin. "Not for seeking out pleasure. Just don't do it again. Not until I give it to you." She nodded her agreement and he crawled over her, straddling her thighs and removing his undershirt. Leaning forward, he braced his hands beside her and kissed his way down her spine, licking each vertebra, dipping his tongue into the two little dimples at the small of her back. Her body trembled under his and her skin broke out in goose bumps.

"Are you cold?" he asked against the small of her back.

"No." she whispered, her voice trembling as well. "Just excited." He grinned and scooted further down her legs so he could plump up her arse cheeks and kiss each mound of flesh. Using his knees, he spread her thighs and lifted her hips a little so he could get to her center. Laving his tongue from the top of her slit to the bottom, she let out a low, keening moan and pushed her hips back against his face. Holding onto her more firmly, he nudged her folds further apart and sucked her little clit into his mouth and rolled it against his tongue.

"Oh, Gods." she panted, trying to rock against him. Her arousal covered his face and he did it again and again, harder and harder. She was right there, he knew, seconds away from coming, and the way she was rocking against him let him know she wanted it. Quickly pulling his mouth away, he sat up on his knees and she cried out. Leaning over her body, he gripped the nape of her neck and pressed his lips to her ear.

"I told you not to come until I was inside you." he growled. "Oh." she panted out. "Should I make you wait now?" he licked the rim of her ear. "Maybe stroke myself off while you watch?"

"No." she tried to shake her head against his grip. "No, please. I want you inside me." Sandor chuckled as he sat back some and pushed the head of his cock against her entrance.

"Since you asked so nicely." and then he thrust forward, entering her fully in one smooth move. He held his pelvis tightly to hers, feeling her insides tremble and grip at him. Shit, she was close. But so was he. Rearranging her legs so they were between his, he braced one forearm beside her and shoved the other under her hips so he could touch her clit. As he started to thrust inside of her, he just pressed against it, holding her on the precipice of her climax. He could actually feel her pulse beating in the tight bundle of nerves. When his own climax was begging for release, he started rubbing around her, pinching the little nub occasionally.

"Sandor!" his name was both a warning and a question and he pounded into her harder.

"Yes, Sansa." he grunted into her hair. "Come with me." She let go of holding back and went with a sobbing moan as he growled out his own orgasm.

***

Sansa felt like a limp noddle as Sandor untied her hands and left the bed. She was close to sleep when she felt him climb back onto the mattress and she gasped a little at the feel of a wash cloth between her thighs. She was so sensitive it almost hurt.

"Easy now." he kissed her shoulder. "Just cleaning up my mess." Sansa laughed sleepily and rolled over when he was done.

"How courteous of you." Sandor chuckled and sat down cross legged beside her. He must have put on his pajama pants while he was in the bathroom because now he wore flannel pants and nothing else.

"I can be when I feel like it." he shrugged. Sansa gathered enough strength to lift herself to the pillows and smiled widely when Sandor handed her one of his shirts to put on.

"Is something wrong?" she asked him once she had her hair pulled out of the collar and was curled on her side facing him. He was quiet right now, an odd look on his face.

"Just thinking about what the imp said earlier." he leaned forward and picked up a strand of her hair, rubbing it between his fingers instead of looking at her.

"Don't call him that." she scolded softly. "And don't worry about what he said. I know how much you care about me." she smiled through the half lie. "Nothing else matters."

"It bloody well matters." he grumbled, then leaned over her reclined body and to open the bedside table behind her.

"What are you doing?" she giggled, pushing against his big body until he sat back down beside her. His chest was rising and falling quicker then it had been a moment ago and he ran the knuckles of one hand across his burn scars while the corner of his mouth twitched, a sign she now knew meant he was nervous.

"Sandor, what's wrong?" she asked, worried now. She reached out and put a hand on his knee and he dropped the hand that had been rubbing his cheek and grabbed hold of it.

"Nothings wrong." he gave her a little smile, his eyes finally meeting hers. There was an odd look swirling in them. "Not a fucking thing." he held out his other hand, opening his fist and showing her the small black box he must have pulled from the nightstand. Sansa froze, her mouth falling open as her eyes snapped up to his.

"Sandor?" she slowly pulled herself up so she was sitting cross legged facing him.

"Don't have much of anything from my childhood." he started talking, rolling the little box in his big fingers. "But I do have this." he flicked the lid of the box open and showed her the ring that was nestled inside. It was a simple rose gold band with a single small diamond. Sansa felt her throat close up and tears sting her eyes. She held her breath and looked back up at Sandor. His eyes flicked between hers as he took a breath.

"It was my mothers." he looked away from her and took the ring out of the box, the small band engulfed in his huge fingers. He tossed the box onto the bed beside them and held the ring out to her.

"It's yours now, as I am, if you want it." he swallowed and met her eyes. "If you want me." With a trembling hand, Sansa took the ring from him and slid it onto her left ring finger. It fit perfectly.

"Just so I'm not reading something into this, or over romanticizing the moment, you are asking me to marry you, right?" Now Sandor chuckled.

"You're mostly naked in bed after being tied down and fucked." he reminded her. "Hardly romantic." he leaned forward slightly to cup both of her cheeks in his hands. "But, yes, Sansa. I'm asking you to marry me. I'll be the best husband I can be, and I promise to take care of you and bloody well love you as much as any man can. But I can't promise you romance." Sansa stopped holding back the tears and let them fall as she met his dark gaze.

"Of course I'll marry you." she said through the tears. "I love you." Sandor swallowed hard and leaned forward as he pulled her to him and kissed her. It was soft and gentle and he pulled back slightly after a second, his lips still touching hers.

"Aye, little bird." he kissed her again. "I love you, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! It's done! I had so much fun with this fic, grammar errors and typos aside! 
> 
> Thank you everyone who commented and followed this story. I really appreciate it!
> 
> SanSan happily ever after :)


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